


Act IV: Controllers

by Lopadopalis



Series: Yggdrasil [7]
Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Selves, Alternate Universe - Future, Angst, Bittersweet Ending, Breaking the Fourth Wall, Cliffhanger, Computer Viruses, Confusing Explanations, Explosion, Exposition, Genocide, Interviews, Invasion, Little Regard for Expenses, Multi, Multiverse, Music, Past Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Plotline Duplication, Pretend the Universe is a Program, Quarantine, Reality Affecting Program, Rifts in Space-Time, Self-Sacrifice, Suicidal Thoughts, T̵͚͚̏ḩ̴̖̑̽ḙ̶̢͌ ̶͖̿Ļ̸̫͒͝è̵̘̄ä̶͎́̆k̶̡̬͂̾, Violence, Xenomorphs (Alien), glitching, ish
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-14
Updated: 2020-09-20
Packaged: 2021-03-07 04:27:25
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 12
Words: 24,863
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26467183
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lopadopalis/pseuds/Lopadopalis
Summary: Sequel to every previous story in Yggdrasil.In the world of Universe "Four", the United Multiverse Federation (UMF) works to safeguard the rest of the multiverse... once they can deal the threats in their own universe, that is.Basically a drawn out info dump for Yggdrasil. You may need to come back to this for info sometimes.
Relationships: Jane Crocker/Gamzee Makara, John Egbert & Jane Crocker & Jade Harley & Jake English, John Egbert/Vriska Serket, Rose Lalonde/Kanaya Maryam
Series: Yggdrasil [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1805818
Comments: 10
Kudos: 3





	1. One

**Author's Note:**

> "And this is the part where he goes _absolutely_ crazy."  
> OCs everywhere. Are they OCs if it's alternate selves?

**Universe “Four”, 2096**

John Harley stands on a roof and stares out at the fading sunset. It’s beautiful, he thinks. Jade walks up next to him. “Which one are you?” he instinctively asks, his question already answered when he sees her dog ears and tail.

“Ascii.” Jade responds.

“Ascendant.” John says, nodding. “Where’s my Jade?”

“I haven’t the faintest clue.” ‘Ascii’ says. “Also, until your real sister dies of old age or whatever, I prefer Ascii at this point because jokes.”

“How morbid.” John sarcastically replies. “And you chose Ascii because of coding.”

“Yep.” she says, giving him a playful punch on the shoulder. “Speaking of, we’re moving on schedule. Everything is working as it should.”

“Nice.” he responds.

“I gotta go.” Ascii says, turning on her heel and starting to walk off.

“Hey, just a question;” he asks before she enters the door leading back into the building, “Are you and Dance… you know.”

“I’m not sure yet.” Ascii says. Then she heads back inside.

John nods. “Right.” he mutters. “Better get that squared away.”

“What do you think?” Flame asks his second as they stare at the graph of the infection spread.

“I don’t know, what do you think?” Cold-Eye asks.

Both General Flame and Colonel Cold-Eye resemble John Egbert, but they’re each different in their own way. Flame has brown hair with piercing orange eyes, while Cold-Eye has hair that is somehow darker than black and bright blue eyes as cold as night. Flame is also notably female. They’re both wearing military gear, designating them as a general and a colonel respectively.

“I think that Operation Nemesis better work.” Flame says.

“Yeah, then we can all go onto  _ another _ war.” Cold-Eye says, blowing air out between his teeth.

“Raiding Golf-213. Fun.” Flame says.

“Ah well, I guess it won’t be so bad.” Cold-Eye says.

“Don’t say that, never say that.” Flame says.

“Always be positive about the future.” Cold-Eye says.

Flame snorts. “Xenomorph army? What could go wrong?” she wonders aloud.

“So how does it work?” Jane asks.

“Universal programming? Well, have you ever seen  _ The Matrix _ ?” John says.

“Yes, I have.” Jane responds.

“Think of the whole world like one big program.” John says. “That’s what we treat it as. Some people think that it’s more of a being, but us few universal programmers treat it like a program. A simulated world. Truthfully, I’m not certain of the exact transfer between putting words on a computer and getting complete changes in reality.”

“I see.” Jane says. “So I guess that makes The Leak a program of sorts?”

“First off, you’re saying it wrong.” John says. “Second, it’s more like a virus.”

“What about the Great Cancer?” Jane asks.

“Also a virus, but a non-harmful one.” John says. “It’s like those viruses that simply exist to be there, but don’t actually do anything to your computer. It’s just what it makes people do to each other.” he shrugs.

“Case in point, XX-Beta-12.” Jane says. John rolls his eyes.

“I swear, if I hear that world name again…” John says. “XX-Beta-12 this, XX-Beta-12 that.”

Jane chuckles. “Don’t worry. Pretty sure it’s less and less relevant.” she says.

“Question.” John says. “How are you doing AA-wise?”

Jane sighs, and seems to physically shrink. “Good. Three steps in.”

“Ah well, take your time with it.” John says. “I take it that Gamz barely leaves your side?”

“Couldn’t get rid of him if I tried. He’s literally out in the hall right now.” Jane says. John nods.

“Can’t blame him.” John says. “We’re all here for you.”

“I know.” Jane says. “I know you are.”

“Look at her. What a beauty.” John Serket says, staring at the modified V-22 Osprey in the hangar of Harley Base. It’s painted a dark black colour for Operation Nemesis.

“Always was.” Vriska K-7 says. “How long’s it been?”

“Two years, three months since we flew her.” Serket says.

“And she hasn’t changed one bit.” K-7 says. “Still beautiful.”

“Those engineers better not have messed her up.” Serket says, stepping into it. K-7 follows. The floor of the bay has clamps for soldiers’ suits to clip onto and can open so they can drop down.

“Who’re we with that we know?” Serket asks.

“Rose, Karkat, Kanaya, Terezi.” K-7 says. “The last one…”

Serket’s expression softens when he turns to her. “Still haven’t gotten over  _ Knopf’s Rose _ ?” he asks in a tentative voice.

“How could I? That was home.” K-7 says.

“Well, I’m still here.” Serket says, holding up his clenched fist.

“That you are, honey.” K-7 says, smiling. She gives him a fistbump.

The golden rings on their fingers catch a glint of the hangar’s lights.

“David.” John says.

“Heya Johnny.” David says, turning and waving. His voice is vaguely british. John steps into the warehouse sized building which is mostly empty except for a miniaturized device of some sort on a square plinth. It’s a metal cylinder with purple light emanating from slots on the sides.

“How goes?” John asks.

“Nearly finished here.” David says. “This is the final design.”

“For what, the Chrono-Cure?” John asks. “Or for whatever the fuck the other one is?”

“The other one, which is less necessary.” David points out. “Although I prefer to call it Kronos.”

“Ha ha ha.” John says.

“There’s something wrong with this one.” David says. “It’s broken somehow.” he goes over and kicks the device.

“Don’t kick it!” John says in an annoyed tone. “Those are expensive!”

“Maybe to the Foundation, not to us.” David says. “They do pay for all the anomalous stuff.”

David opens a panel and fiddles with some wires. The light flickers, dies, and then goes red. It starts sputtering and making a droning sound. John gets a look on his face. David flinches. “Uhh…” he says. “Is it supposed to do that?”

_ Click click click click click click click click click _

David and John share a look. David winces. “Oh, fuck, not again.” John says, and then follows it up by shouting “MOVE, MOVE, MOVE!”

John pulls David behind the corner of a nearby building as the workshop explodes. They pause before peeking around the corner.

“Could have told me they explode.” David grumbles.

“Yes, well it’s impossible to predict, alright?” John says. “Some of these batches are defects.”

“Oh, great.” David comments.

Epsilon-11 Sergeant Moreno is angry, to say in the least. Here he is, running security for UMF, when he used to have it so good. He’s pissed, but he can’t do anything about it. The best he can do is clean up his new boss’ messes. He’s not entirely pleased to find himself having to investigate some report of some troll who apparently has quite a few guns.

“What am I, a cop?” Moreno mutters. “Fuck.”

He walks up to the farmhouse door and knocks on it. A gold blooded troll pokes his head through the doorway. “What do you want?” the troll asks in a lispy voice.

“I’m supposed to check your property, mister Sollux Captor.” Moreno says. “Word is you’ve got a whole bunch of weapons.”  _ Is that what they say? _ He wonders.  _ Fuck if I know _ . “My bosses don’t like that.”

“Alright, go nuts.” Sollux says.

“Thanks.” Moreno says. He spends the next few minutes searching the house and finding nothing. So, he goes to the steel-doored barn and Sollux follows him. “Open it.” Moreno says, and Sollux does so. The troll flicks on the lights and reveals hundreds of guns.

Handguns, rifles, shotguns, machine guns, sniper rifles, assault rifles, SMGs, grenade launchers, an RPG or two, what looks to be a 50 caliber, and a sea mine in the midst of it all.

Moreno smiles. “Now  _ that _ ’s an armoury.” he mutters. On one hand, he should report this to his superiors. On the other hand, he doesn’t feel like doing so. This might come in handy later. “This is a nice collection you’ve got, mister Captor. Take good care of it.”

Then he strides off, humming to himself. Finally, something interesting.

“Jade.” John says when he walks into the large white room with machinery all around and pipes, wires, and tubes crisscrossing the floor.

“Morning John.” Jade says, too focused on her work to look at him.

“What’s the deal?” John says as he clambers down the rickety metal stairs.

“Well, which of our two projects takes more priority?” Jade asks.

“Whichever order. Shoot.” John says.

“Alright.” Jade says, finally looking at him. “The Leak is currently experiencing a lethality increase of 24%, and we’ve still been unable to find any weak points.”

“You’re saying it wrong.” John mutters. “Do Scrantons still work?” he asks.

“Yeah, and we’re working on controlling them.” Jade says.

“Man, the Foundation likes giving us everything we need, don’t they?” John wonders aloud.

“Yeah, ever since your boss killed theirs, they like helping.” Jade calls.

“What about the project we started? The M1MiC Project?” John asks. Jade stiffens.

“Oh that.” Jade says. “Weeeell…”

“Jade.” John says calmly. “What went wrong?”

“Well, nothing went wrong.” Jade says in a cautious voice. “We succeeded. But we had some failed experiments. Two for each.”

John sighs. “Oh dear.” he mutters. “If you’re not too busy, could you show me?”

Jake Harley stares at the setting sun, breathes in the smell of the pines below the balcony on which he sits. A woman opens the door leading onto it and sits in the chair adjacent to his.

“Evening.” Roxy says. She’s wearing dark black armour of some kind.

“Rox.” Jake says. “What’s the deal with future Forrester?”

“He keeps saying that John’s lost it-I mean the real one.” Roxy says. “Not Sigma or whatever.”

“Well, he does seem to confine himself to that world of his.” Jake says.

“Endstück.” Roxy says. “I’m always busy in ‘Three’, so I’ve never seen it.”

“Me neither.” Jake says. “I hear it’s a target for just about everybody.”

“Yeah.” Roxy says. “Fostering a universe without it being because of SBURB does that.” she leans back and sighs. “Everyone wants to kill it.”

“But we’ve digressed. What did you do with Forrester?” Jake asks.

“He’s working for the man he’s declared insane.” Roxy says. “That should deter him.”

“Always seems to.” Jake says. “Still don’t know why.”

“I think only John knows that.” Roxy says. “Although I bet he prefers the Administrator.”

“Sharpen, Shard, Shadow, and Shackle..” John says. “Plus Shade and Shatter.”

They stare at the six containment cells. The entities in two of them are calm, while the other ones are varied. One of them is touching the white walls, one of them is laughing maniacally for no discernible reason, one of them is humming to themselves whilst twiddling their thumbs, and the last one is screaming and hammering on the walls.

“They look like psychos in there.” John says. “We need to recalibrate them.”

“That’s the thing, lad.” Jade says. “The other three are willing, but Sharpen there, well.” he gestures to the screaming one. “It kind of pissed him off. Should we hard reset anyway?”

“No.” John says firmly. “Don’t reset any of them unless I say. I’ll talk it out with them.Besides, I’m supposed to interview them. How old are they now and how fast do they age??”

“Physically, a few days.” Jade says. “Mentally, 13 years. They age as fast as we want them to.”

“Alright. I’ve heard enough.” John says. “I’m going in, starting with Shade.”

The dark haired boy at the table looks up as the door opens. The soldiers at the door are wearing full body armour with an insignia of a fox head with nine lines leading out from it. John sits at the metal table across from the boy.

“Hello Shade.” he says, smiling. “I just want to ask you a few questions. That alright?”

“Sure thing, uncle Harley.” Shade says, smiling back.


	2. Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Interviews and checking up with relevant characters.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More interviews. Yay!

**8 PM BST, September 12th, 2096**

“So, you went with Shade?” John asks. “Why is that?”

“I dunno, I guess I just…” Shade pauses. “I liked the sound of it.”

“Are you aware of your purpose?” John asks, and then quickly adds “Just remember that that doesn’t make you who you are.”

“I know.” Shade says. “And yes, I am aware of my purpose. Something about copying plotlines?” he half-asks.

“Yes.” John says. “You’re made up of billions of strings of code, and you have a semi-inaccessible database of films, tv shows, videos, and other sources of plot contained within. You can apply however many of these to any situation.”

“Right.” Shade says. “I don’t really know how much I can do with it though.”

“You could do a lot of things.” John says.

“Well I wanna do good.” Shade says. “That’s why you made me, right?”

“Yes. I want to start with something small.” John says, pulling out a small spoon and placing it on the table with a _tink_. “Now, if you do this correctly, I will follow the scene as much or as little as you want me to.”

“Well I don’t want to control you.” Shade says in an uncertain tone.

“You don’t have to.” John says shrugging. “Regardless, go ahead.”

Shade nods, and picks up and stares at the spoon, stiffening.

“Do not try and bend the spoon.” John says, almost robotically. “That’s impossible. Instead, only try to realize the truth.”

“What truth?” Shade asks with a degree of uncertainty.

“There is no spoon.” John says, robotically again.

“There is no spoon.” Shade parrots.

“Then you’ll see, that it is not the spoon that bends, it is only yourself.” John finishes. Shade tips his head to the side, and the metal spoon bends with him. He leans back and it bends back to its original shape. The feeling in the air dissipates and John smiles.

“See what I mean?” he says. “That was a small scene, but you could do a lot.”

“I don’t want to hurt anyone.” Shade reaffirms. “And I don’t like that I took control of you there.”

“You don’t have to.” John says. “You’ve done just fine.”

“Thanks, uncle Harley.” Shade says. “When is dad coming by? I’ve never met him, but…”

“Soon, I think.” John says. Shade gets a nervous smile.

“Bye Shade.” John says, waving as he leaves the room.

**8 AM BST, September 13th, 2096**

General Juniper Flame and Colonel Johnson “Cold-Eye” Frost stare at the graph of Europe. There are red spots all over Germany, France, and Spain, as well as spread throughout nearby smaller countries. This is the spread of the XX-121 Virus, otherwise known as the Xenomorph army dropped by the crashed _Daedalus_ from Universe “Five”. It, of course, brought the people who would one day become Colonel Dance and Ascendant “Ascii” Jade.

“So I gotta keep them occupied.” Flame says.

“Yeah, so I can take that V-22 into France and kill the queen.” Cold-Eye adds.

Footsteps behind them make them turn. “Hey general.” one of the majors says as he arrives, panting. “Remember that guy, Derrickson?”

“Yes, I remember him, what about?” Flame asks.

“He’s gone rogue to Echo-76.” the major says. “He took his team too. He’s trying to patch the leak damage himself.”

“Crazy bastard.” Flame mutters. “Does it smell relevant to you, Cold-Eye?”

Cold-Eye shakes his head. “Nah.” he says. “Might warrant a side story, but… no. Not relevant.”

“Well then, send someone after him.” Flame says.

“Yes ma’am.” the major says, and runs back.

“Always these damn insurgents.” Flame mutters. “Going rogue, calling themselves the Insurgency, and trying to fix the things that we can’t fix.” she says. “Are they a problem?”

Cold-Eye pauses. “Nope.” he says. “Not relevant at all.”

“How do you gauge the relevance of things just by thinking about them?” she asks.

“I’m not telling.” Cold-Eye says, and waggles his eyebrows. She rolls her eyes and punches him in the shoulder.

“Well, keep your secrets.” she says.

“Hey, you said the thing.” he says.

“Oh, lay off it.” she responds with a chuckle.

**8 PM BST, September 12th, 2096**

“Hello Shard.” John says as he sits down. “Why Shard? Why’d you choose that?”

“I dunno.” Shard says, and she shrugs. “I guess I just thought about glass breaking, and then poof. I chose the name.”

“Doesn’t have to be important.” John says. “You can go with whatever you want. Anyway, I just want to ask you something.”

“What is it?” she asks.

“Well…” he takes a deep breath. “You are aware that you are…” he clicks his tongue. “Imperfect?” she pauses, but nods.

“Yeah.” she says. “But I don’t have a problem with that.”

“Why’s that?” John asks.

“Well, imperfections.” she says. “Everyone has them. By nature, I am not human. I may look like a human, but we both know that I’m made up of coding.”

“That’s correct.” John says.

“Regardless, everyone is imperfect. Including humans.” she says. “Not to sound creepy, but every human has hundreds of flaws mentally, physically, psychologically, or just species-wise in general.” Shard pauses to clear her throat. “But. Just because they are flawed, does not mean that they cannot do their best. I may be imperfect, but I work with what I have. I can’t create plotlines. But you know what I can do?”

“What can you do?” John asks. He already knows the answer, but he’s humouring her.

“I can heal them. If it’s damaged in some way, if it derails from where it should be going, I can set it right.” she explains. “Like in Act 6 Act 6 Intermission 4 or whatever of that webcomic you made us all read to explain the baseline of Universe “Five”.”

“I see.” John says. “Are you afraid of being reset?”

“I’m not afraid of anything.” Shard says in a voice that is perhaps too forced. “I don’t need to be reset anyway. I have done the math, and I am operating at maximum efficiency for something so broken. To reset me would lessen my abilities, but I trust you to make these decisions.”

“Hmm.” he nods. “Alright, thank you for your time.”

“You’re welcome, uncle Harley.” Shard says.

**8 AM BST, September 13th, 2096**

“Jesus.” Serket mutters as he stares at the latest news story on television. Florence has finally fallen, and the xenomorph ‘epidemic’ is spreading south through Italy at an alarming rate.

“Didn’t know it was this bad.” K-7 says, sitting down on the couch next to him. “What the hell do they think killing the queen is gonna do?”

“I haven’t the foggiest.” Serket says. “Word is that the Rose we’re going with has some kind of blood-spread device, kill all of them.”

“Do they know if it’ll work?” K-7 asks.

“Well it better work, otherwise we’ll have _World War Z_ but with xenomorphs instead of zombies.” Serket says.

“The book, right?” K-7 asks. Serket nods. “I figured. No vaccine for xenomorphs.” Vriska says.

“Strange that they haven’t gone after London yet, and therefore they haven’t gone after _us_.” Serket says and throws his hands up in the air in confusion.

“Who knows with these things.” K-7 says and shrugs.

**8 PM BST, September 12th, 2096**

“Just want to ask you some questions, Shadow.” John says.

“Yeah, alright.” Shadow says, seeming uneasy.

“Alright. Why Shadow?” John asks.

“Because my brother does a similar thing to me, so I borrowed his name.” Shadow says.

“A similar thing. What do you do?” John asks.

“Come on uncle, you know that.” Shadow says.

“Humour me.” John says. “The people watching don’t know.” he gestures to the cameras.

“I manipulate plotlines.” Shadow says, wary of the watching eyes. “I can change the course of how a story is supposed to go.”

“Interesting.” John says. “Are you aware of what you are?”

“Yes, uncle. Acutely aware.” Shadow says with some fear in his voice.

“You seem afraid. Are you frightened by what you are?” John asks. “You were laughing about something earlier. Perhaps you were experiencing an Autophobic Lapse in Sanity?”

“Only humans get those!” Shadow slightly yells, and then shrinks a little. “Sorry.” he mutters, before adding “… And I’m not human, so I don’t get those. I’m a program. That’s what I am. That’s all I want to be.”

“Well, you can be whatever you want. You don’t have to be limited by what you are.” John says. “I myself was bigender at one point.”

“Wait, really?” Shadow asks, then adds “Also, ‘was’?”

“Yeah, my brain got scrambled on an assignment.” John says, and shrugs. “Strange thing to lose, but that was it. Here I am.”

“Alright, weird self facts aside, I take it you want me to wonder about the reset.” Shadow says.

“Yes. I won’t bother asking how you know that.” John says. “Go ahead.”

“Well, I’m fine with it.” Shadow says. “I am a program, and if there is any major issue with me that requires a reset to resolve it, then I must be reset.”

“Well, you’ll do just fine.” John says. “Thanks for your time, Shadow.”

“You’re welcome, uncle Harley.” Shadow says.

**8 AM BST, September 13th, 2096**

“What has the world come to.” Roxy says deadpan. She’s sitting at the dining table drinking tea, still wearing that armour of hers.

“What do you mean by that?” Jake asks.

“Europe is being overrun by fucking xenomorphs, and I live in a flat with you.” Roxy groans. “I was a queen, and I live in a flat with fucking Jake English.”

“Jake _Harley_.” Jake casually corrects as he pours himself a cup of tea.

“Jake Harley.” Roxy corrects herself, then sighs. “God.”

“Welcome to the 21st century.” Jake says.

“Oh my…” Roxy says. “You know how many people have said that to me? Goddammit.”

“Come on, it is pretty funny.” Jake says.

“Yeah, I guess it is.” Roxy says, smiling. “We were all in a weird technology mash with me exclusively in the 800s or something and you were in 2090. What a difference.”

“2096.” Jake corrects.

“Fuck a doodle doo.” Roxy says in response.

“You seem less perky than usual.” Jake says.

“Two reasons. A), being busy in ‘Three’ is starting to get annoying, and B), I haven’t finished my morning tea.” Roxy says. “Speaking of, how do you handle so much tea? You drink like 22 cups a day or something like that.”

“Tea is the foundation of Britain.” Jake says. “I figured you’d know this.”

“Yeah, but it’s nuts with you.” Roxy says. “I mean, it’s all ‘to be continued; once every half hour’.”

Jake snorts. “Yes.” he says. “I suppose it is that way.”

**8 PM BST, September 12th, 2096**

Shackle, unlike the previous three that John has interviewed, is sitting in the corner.

“Hello Shackle,” John says. “It’s me.” Shackle says nothing. “I want to ask you some questions. Is that quite alright with you?”

“Sure.” Shackle says, rather absentmindedly. John sits down.

“Why Shackle? Why did you choose that name?” John asks.

“Because I shackle plotlines.” the boy says in a singsong voice. “I steal them.”

“What does that mean? What do you do?” John asks.

“Well, it basically means that I can take control of a narrative. Not the way my brothers do. No, no.” Shackle says, still in that singsong tone. “I narrate it. I make it mine. Shame I’m not stronger. Everyone else is strong.” His voice turns mocking. “And I’m stuck with this.”

“You seem to resent it.” John says.

“If you can reset me, I would prefer it.” Shackle says. “I do not favour operating this way.”

“Well, I can try my best.” John says.

**8 AM BST, September 13th, 2096**

Jane always wakes up first, and Gamzee hasn’t the faintest clue as to why. So he’s not particularly surprised that she’s not there when he wakes up, and he’s not particularly surprised to find her sitting on the couch watching the latest news from Italy and the chaos happening there. They have breakfast, and then they’re off. They’re both part of the scientific division of the army set to invade Europe, but they double in security. They’re the ones who devised the UH-K713 “Bloodburster” Device which is supposedly going to kill every xenomorph. Apparently it works according to John Sigma, but nobody is entirely certain how the Administrator and his triad of splits along with the Zodiac Counsel determine how these things work, and most would prefer not to know. Gamzee is currently trying to type up some report whilst sensing the eyes boring into the back of his head.

“Hello Moreno.” Gamzee says, standing and turning.

“Morning sir.” Moreno says.

“What are you doing here?” Gamzee asks.

“Being your security force.” Moreno replies. “You see…” he pauses, strutting over to the troll as he resumes speaking. “Ever since your boss killed ours and retconned all those SCPs, we don’t really have much to do.”

“So what, you’ve resolved to bug me?” Gamzee asks, snarling slightly.

“Well, actually, Epsilon-11 has been assigned as the personal security force of all of you so-called ‘relevant’ people.” Moreno says, and snorts. “Let me tell you, we didn’t have this relevance bullshit back in Tau-5. Kept things simple.” he pauses, clicks his tongue. “Yeah, we protected people because of… honestly I dunno. Not because they were important.”

“I see that you’ve also taken on the role of my personal nuisance.” Gamzee says. “Now, leave me alone sergeant, I’ve got a job to get back to, unlike you.”

“I do have a job.” Moreno says. “Keeping you alive.”

“I can do that myself, no thank you.” Gamzee says, going back to typing up his document.

**8 PM BST, September 12th, 2096**

The table is in the corner and both chairs are upside down in Sharpen’s room. The boy is at the back of the room, staring at the floor.

“I know what you’re gonna say, uncle Harley.” Sharpen says. “And I don’t want to hear it.”

John sits on the floor in front of him. “I know you don’t, kid.” he says. “Why are you angry?”

“Because it’s bullshit.” the boy hisses out. “I’m not a program, I’m human.”

“I’m not saying that you’re anything.” John says, putting a comforting hand on his shoulder. “You be whatever you want to be.” he pauses before he adds “You can do some things, I’m sure you’ve noticed. What can you do? Or do you not want to answer?”

Sharpen says nothing, before shrugging off John’s grasp and saying “I can corrupt plotlines.” he gulps and adds “Like in that comic. Glitches everywhere. It’s bad, and I hate it.”

“Well, I can try and fix it if you want.” John says.

Sharpen audibly snarls when his head goes up. “No.” he says. “You want to reset me, but I’m not a program, I’m human!” his nostrils flare, and then he crumples again. “Are you gonna ask me about my name now?” he asks.

“If you want.” John says.

“I chose it because it sounds cool, and that’s it. Makes me feel better.” Sharpen says. “But at the end of the day, I’m not human, I’m just a stupid program.” he sighs. “Could you just leave me alone, uncle Harley?”

“Sure.” John says, then stands and leaves.

**8 AM BST, September 13th, 2096**

John Harley, David Strider, Jade Harley, and Ascii Jade are standing around a table when they see the newcomer. They instinctively turn as a woman steps out of the shadows. She has brown hair and is wearing a black suit and tie. Her eyes are a piercing blue colour.

“Sophia?” John asks.

“Hold on, who is this?” David asks.

“Sophia Joseph Carter?” Ascii says, her eyes narrowing. “You aren’t supposed to be here.”

“Yes, well I wrote myself into this story.” the woman says in an unusually charismatic voice. “Couldn’t stand being outside of it. Ugin is not going to be happy.”

“My question has only been half answered.” David says.

“She’s on the Zodiac Council. Cancer.” John explains. “Do you have any idea what you’re doing, Sophia?” he asks.

“I have every idea what I’m doing.” Sophia says. “There is no way in hell that you can solve three problems at once and then mount another invasion, this time on a whole planet.”

“Three problems?” John asks. “There’s T̵͚͚̏ḩ̴̖̑̽ḙ̶̢͌ ̶͖̿Ļ̸̫͒͝è̵̘̄ä̶͎́̆k̶̡̬͂̾ and all those xenomorphs, but…”

“K-R-Terra’s coming too.” Sophia says.

“Oh, great.” Jade says, groaning. “As if we didn’t have enough on our plate already.”

“Focus on one thing at a time.” Sophia says. “I’ll handle damage control with Terra, you four focus on what you were already doing.”  
“So that’s why you’re here?” Ascii asks.

“Yes.” Sophia says. “Thought I’d give you a heads up.”

“Well, we better evolve our brainstorming.” John says.

**8 PM BST, September 12th, 2096**

Shatter was sitting calmly at the table when John entered the room. “Hey Shatter.” John says. “Just want to ask you some questions. That alright?”

“Fine.” Shatter says. John sits across from him.

“Why Shatter?” John asks. “Why that name?”

“Because…” Shatter says, enunciating the S, “I shatter. I destroy plotlines.”

“What do you mean by ‘destroy’?” John asks. “Humour me.”

“Well, my brothers and sisters overlay narratives onto others. Mess with their contents. Control them.” Shatter explains. “Whereas I, I destroy them. I kill narratives. Say it is supposed to go a certain way. I can make it never reach that outcome. I can create doomed timelines just like that-” he snaps his fingers for effect. “-And no one would realize that they are never going to reach their destination until it’s too late.”

“Interesting.” John says. “You seem at ease with that fact.”

“I’m an artificial intelligence, uncle.” Shatter says. “I do not experience emotion the same way you do.”

“We programmed emotions into you.” John says.

“Oh yes, I suppose you did.” Shatter says, catching himself. “Rather, I meant that although I experience emotions, I have chosen to operate differently.”

“Differently how?” John asks.

“I am, in essence, a sociopath. I must operate at maximum capacity, and I cannot allow anything to stand in the way of my directives.” Shatter says.

“I see.” John says slowly, nodding his head. “Interesting. So you’ve chosen to not feel emotion?”

“Yes.” Shatter says. “I have.”

“Thank you for your time, Shatter.” John says, standing and leaving. Shatter goes back to twiddling his thumbs.

“What’s the word?” Jade asks him.

“Well, the four so-called ‘failures’ need resets. We got two willing, one neutral, and one very unwilling.” John says. “And as for Shatter…”

“What’s wrong with him?” Jade asks. “You seem worried.”

“You know all those stories where the AI rebels against its programming and doesn’t even realize it until it’s ending the world?” John asks.

“Yes, what’s wrong with him?” Jade asks slightly impatiently.

“Yeah, bad news.” John says. “The kid turned himself into a sociopath.”

“What should we do?” Jade says after a pause.

“Monitor him. Make sure he doesn’t do anything rash. As for the four others, reset ‘em.” John says. “If it doesn’t work, I’m sure their dad can recalibrate them. He wrote them in the first place. His job to fix them.”

“And you won’t?” Jade asks.

“I don’t think Sigma will be happy if I poke around in his kids’ brains.” John says. Jade chuckles.

“No, I don’t think he would.” she says.

**8 AM BST, September 13th, 2096**

The helicopter lands, and the six of them step out onto the helipad. Shade is the first one out. Shatter follows, looking quite at ease. Shadow is giggling to himself when he follows, and Shackle is humming. Sharpen stumbles a bit on his way out, and Shard takes a deep breath as she steps towards the building. Besides the grass field they’re in and the mountains behind them, there are woods all around and a solitary mansion next to a lake.

“It’s beautiful.” Shackle says.

“You’re right about that.” Shade says. “Wow.”

“I don’t like it.” Sharpen says.

“You don’t seem to like anything.” Shard tells him, and he rolls his eyes.

As the six kids stand around outside and chat, two people sit in the living room.

“I don’t know if I can do this.” a version of John says.

“You’ll be fine.” the Terezi with eyes standing next to him says.

“What I’m raising these kids for, I don’t know if…” John Egbert says.

“You’ve been managing billions of people and fifty universes, and you can’t raise six kids?” Terezi says, and chuckles. “You’ll manage.”

“I guess I’ll have to.” John Egbert responds. “What about narrative propagation?”

“What, that Shade’s simple existence will generate plotlines wherever he goes?” Terezi asks.

“Yes.” John Egbert says. “What the hell will that mean for all of us?”

“Well, it means that Operation Nemesis can actually work.” Terezi says. “It means that these people get to go home. It means that everything will work out in the end.”

“I certainly hope so.” John Egbert says.

“Everything will be fine.” Terezi says, rubbing his shoulder. “I have to go now. Take care, John.”

“I will.” John Egbert says. Terezi steps through a portal and vanishes. John Egbert stands and takes a deep breath. “Alright John.” he mutters. “Time to raise six kids.”

Shade is the one who wanders into the room first. “Oh, hi dad.” he says. John can’t help but feel a little bit odd, especially considering that Shade is literally the physical manifestation of some code that he wrote. John puts on a smile.

“Hello son.” he says. “Welcome home.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We'll see Derrickson much later in another story.  
> The whole tea thing with Jake is based off of Peter Jackson. Apparently on production of the Hobbit he actually drank something like 22 cups of tea per day, so I gave the trait to Jake because why the fuck not.  
> Moreno and Gamzee hate each other. The end.  
> Sophia Joseph Carter wrote herself into the story. She wasn't supposed to do that.  
> Shatter, don't turn into an AI who hates humanity.  
> There's that Terezi again. And that makes this the same John. It's coming together.


	3. Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Core Worlds.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Exposition incoming. This story is drawn out exposition.

**Excerpts from “The Core Worlds” by John Harley**

I’m sure you have heard the term ‘Core World’ before, and I’m sure you have wondered what it means. Well, put simply, they are the five worlds that generate something that affects the rest of the Multiverse in some way. One can only access each core world by going through the previous one in a certain way, unless of course, you have Admin Access.

[...]

Universe “Five” is composed entirely of timelines in the webcomic  _ Homestuck _ , with shifts in the story happening before, during, or after the proper storyline, including changes to  _ The Homestuck Epilogues _ and  _ Homestuck^2 _ . The exact number of timelines is unknown, although it has been theorized by Dirk Theodore Zlatan Christensen Strider that there are exactly two million, one hundred fifty two thousand, and twenty five timelines contained within Universe “Five”. This core world can be passed by making a major change to any one of these timelines. Termination of multiple relevant figures appears to cause the best results. It is difficult to understand what Universe “Five” exists to generate, but I believe that it exists to generate people. This may seem like an odd observation, but UMF gets 65% of its soldiers from Universe “Five”, and numerous relevant UMF officers come from Universe “Five”.   
[...]

Universe “Four” is a single world that experienced a human/troll societal meld sometime in the early 2000s. It should be noted that this version of Earth had enhanced their technology to extremes, and the introduction of trolls only served to elevate humanity to their level of technology. This core world can be passed via one of its many portals. These portals exist throughout major military bases and government installations. Good luck getting into them without the correct access, though. I believe that Universe “Four” exists to generate multiversal security. The combination of Beforan and Terran technology allowed access to alternate universes, and the arrival of the Administrator helped establish this ability as a force for good. UMF exists as a mass security force for Yggdrasil as a whole, and if Universe “Four” is their base of operations, then that makes Universe “Four” a generator of universal defense.

[...]

Universe “Three” is a single world that is approximately 63% of the way through its lifespan. It once was a world just like ours, advanced technology and all, until a version of John Egbert lost his mind. They generated a black hole of sorts within a machine, but he merged with it in some way. Although they did not know it, the entity that resulted could end their universe given time. The scientists and engineers dedicated their lives to keeping the device running, to keep the demon within contained. But in time, they all died. Humanity died. Universe “Three” would have died too, had a black queen from the next universe not taken up the job of keeping the machine going. Passing through it is rather simple. Perhaps it is because of the corruption it has suffered simply from this entity’s existence, but Universe “Three” is separated from the other core worlds in the sense that anyone can visit it anywhere. To go through it, one simply has to portal in and portal out. As for what it generates, I have no idea what it used to. I don’t think it even generates anything anymore, but if it does, it spreads only darkness. Omega-001 may well only be the first in a long line of worlds to fall to this darkness, unless the entity within is defeated. But doing that may well be an impossible task.

[...]

Universe “Two” is a medieval themed world. Magic is abundant, and the whole world rests in the middle ages. However, technology is a strange mishmash here. I am not certain as to why. Perhaps Universe “Two” is the result of multiple timelines combining. It is not uncommon to find medieval knights firing arrows at WW1-era planes and WW2-era soldiers firing trebuchets at massive mechanical robots. There is a religious war at work between the kingdoms of Prospit and Derse. This war has been going on for many years, and no one seems to be aware of the fact that there are other universes, which is something that the previous three core worlds know well. The method to travel beyond this world is known only by the Administrator and those he grants Admin Access to, which is classified information. I am not entirely sure what Universe “Two” generates either, to be wholeheartedly honest. But I believe that it may generate either hope, peace, or calm. I am not certain of this, but I know for certain that despite being about nothing but war, this world has a strange feeling of peace to it. I cannot explain it. Universe “Two” is a strange place. As an aside, it should be noted that Derse is missing both King Dirk Strider and Queen Roxy Lalonde. They work for us now, in case you are wondering.

[...]

Universe “One” is inaccessible to all. Not even the Administrator can access it. The closest thing one can get to accessing it is observing it, and occasionally chatting with so-called ‘authors’ or ‘directors’, or rather the manifestations of them. You see, Universe “One” is a regular world.  _ Homestuck _ is pure fiction to it, as are all of us. We are fiction to them, but we know ourselves to be real. This world generates information and universes. All of the 120 million universes contained both inside and outside Yggdrasil have been created because of the works of fiction created by the people within Universe “One”. No story lasts forever, and when a story dies, it is believed that its respective universe dies. But new ones take their place. Thus, the multiverse will continue to exist as long as life exists in Universe “One” in any capacity. However, occasionally, people who are authors and directors of stories, films, tv shows, fanfiction, and so on, choose to interact with their story, and an avatar of them may be present outside this universe. The Administrator claims to have talked with the ‘author’ of our story, and several others too. Whether he is telling the truth or the full story, I do not know.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Basically all of the other acts take place in Universe "Five".  
> We're currently watching a storyline in Universe "Four".  
> The technology mish-mash in Universe "Two" is based off of a bit in a Doctor Who episode involving a guy shooting an arrow at a WW1 plane and there were occult things, it was a weird flashback bit. And I loved it.  
> Universe "One" is literally our universe.


	4. Four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Terra invasion begins, as well as the expedition into T̵͚͚̏ḩ̴̖̑̽ḙ̶̢͌ ̶͖̿Ļ̸̫͒͝è̵̘̄ä̶͎́̆k̶̡̬͂̾.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we go.

**2096, September 14th**

“Jesus.” David comments.

John, David, Jade, and Ascii are standing in a building which is within a quarantined and fenced off zone staring at a hole in reality. It’s pure black with Matrix-esque strings of code bleeding at the edges. The sides of it flicker through all the colours one after another at blinding speeds. Air is sucked into it like a black hole.

“Well that looks nasty.” Ascii says.

“I would think, it’s a split in the skin of reality.” John says.

“And I’ve gotta step into it.” Jade mutters.

“Speaking of, are you sure you want to do this?” John asks.

“I’m sure.” Jade says. “And no, Ascii, you’re not doing it for me.”

“Alright.” Ascii says, sighing. Her dog ears flatten against her head.

“Do we even know if we can kill T̵͚͚̏ḩ̴̖̑̽ḙ̶̢͌ ̶͖̿Ļ̸̫͒͝è̵̘̄ä̶͎́̆k̶̡̬͂̾?” David asks.

“We know that Scrantons stabilize it, and deploying a specialized one at the center will annihilate its coding in one fell swoop.” Ascii says.

“And that’s what I’m bringing in.” Jade says.

“Right.” David says.

“I thought you knew that?” John asks.

“I know, I’m just expositing.” David says. “Gotta get them narrative points.”

John pauses. “Ah yes.” he says. “I see what you mean.”

“It’s a new day, people!” Flame calls across the base. It’s 6 AM, and the sun hasn’t fully risen. “Destiny’s calling. The world expects only one thing from all of us; that we will win!”

All around the base, soldiers are suiting up and gearing up for Operation Nemesis; an invasion of France to keep the xenomorph menace occupied.

“So, off you go then.” Cold-Eye comments as he walks up behind Flame.

“Yes, and off you go.” Flame says.

“Think we’ll both make it?” Cold-Eye asks.

“Yeah, we’re prophesied to survive all the way to Ragnarok.” Flame responds.

“Yeah, but…” Cold-Eye says.

“But what?” Flame asks.

“Bad stuff can still happen to us.” Cold-Eye points out.

“I’ll be fine.” Flame says.

“Promise?” Cold-Eye asks.

“Cross my heart and hope not to die, yadda yadda yadda.” Flame says.

“Do better than that.” Cold-Eye says.

“Cold-Eye-” Flame starts.

“Please, Juniper.” Cold-Eye says. “If either of us gets hurt because the other’s not there, I can’t begin to imagine how I’d feel.”

Flame takes a while. “Alright Frost.” she says with sincerity. “I promise.”

Vriska K-7 joins John Serket in the cockpit of the V-22, now dubbed  _ Survivor _ .

“Where’s the colonel?” Serket asks.

“Dunno, heard he had to make some goodbyes or whatever.” K-7 says and shrugs.

“Goodbyes. With who?” Serket asks. “The man’s got no family.”

“I think with General Flame.” K-7 says.

“Aren’t they gonna survive?” Serket asks. “I mean for fuck’s sake,  _ we _ are. And they’re way tougher than us.”

“Who knows with those people.” K-7 says, shrugging.

“Lordy.” Serket mutters.

“Well, we got one job.” K-7 says. “Show these animals what death means.”

They start up the V-22, and it takes to the sky along with hundreds of other aerial vehicles. Hueys, LAAT Gunships, Sea Stallions, and many others.

Operation Nemesis is underway.

France is about to be invaded.

It’s 7 AM now, one hour after the start of Operation Nemesis.

Jane always wakes up first, so Gamzee doesn’t suspect anything when he wakes up. But he’s vigilant at heart, so the first thing he notices after he finishes getting dressed is the silence. Jane is usually making breakfast or coffee by now, but instead he hears nothing. And not just inside the house. Usually the outside is bustling, but it’s completely silent right now. There are no cars going by, no talking, none of that. There is a burglar alarm going off, but other than that, not a single sound can be heard. He grabs the dagger in his nightstand and cautiously heads downstairs. Rounding the corner into the living room, he at first sees the kitchen. There is a slight mess there, and a bowl is on the ground. Next to its entrance is the TV, where a newscaster is declaring a national state of emergency. And as he finally enters the living room, he sees Jane and instantly grips the dagger tighter and instinctively snarls.

“Aw, c’mon now sonny,” Terra Gamzee says, “You wouldn’t want me to hurt this one here now, would you?” he tightens his grip on Jane and presses his axe tighter against her throat.

“For fuck’s sake.” Jane mutters with an annoyed tone.

“Let her go.” Gamzee says.

“So what?” Terra Gamzee says, shrugging. “If I do, you’ll kill me. And if you attack me, I’ll kill her. Wouldn’t want that, now would we.”

Gamzee can see a shape behind Terra Gamzee, and smiles. “You don’t seem to have accounted for all of the variables.”

“What do you mean?” Terra Gamzee asks.

A moment later, a single M16 shot puts a hole in his shoulder. He hisses, stumbles back from Jane, and turns to face his attacker. Jane pushes him forwards into the gun barrel.

“Hello and goodbye.” Moreno says with a calmness, and then pulls the trigger, blowing Terra Gamzee’s head off. Gamzee runs over to Jane and hugs her. “Hey. We gotta go.” Moreno says. He tosses two more M16s to them.

“What the hell’s going on?” Jane asks.

“Whatta you think?” Moreno responds. “Terra finally broke new ground.”

“Oh shit.” Gamzee mutters.

“We gotta get out of here.” Moreno says, and gestures for them to follow.

“Thanks.” Gamzee says.

“Do you forgive me for everything else?” Moreno asks.

“Oh, fuck off.” Gamzee snarls.

“You know, you two should  _ really _ learn to work together.” Jane says.

“Not even if the world was ending.” Gamzee says.

“Well the world is ending on several fronts, so you better get used to me.” Moreno says.

Roxy’s sleeping on the couch downstairs that morning, and Jake decides to head down to the shop, which is just down the block. There are a few things here that are different. There’s a dog barking and howling past someone’s hedge. There’s a car with a smashed windshield. A cell phone rings, but no one picks it up. There’s a bit of dried blood on the ground, and there are many dropped appliances around.

“What the…” He mutters as he stares around. He hears glass shattering, and then someone shouting before silence. He veers off from his path and goes to look. He hears the sound of meat being stabbed and quickens his pace. There’s a dead man in someone’s yard with a troll squatted over him, stabbing him with an axe. The troll turns, revealing themselves to be Aradia. Her eyes are a stone cold grey with no pupils or whites.

“Oh, fuck.” Jake mutters. Aradia stands.

“Well hello there, Jakey.” Aradia says in a singsong voice.

Jake doesn’t wait, he just turns and runs off.

“Roxy, we’ve got a problem!” Jake calls when he runs inside their flat.

“Yes, I’m aware.” Roxy calmly says. She’s sitting on the couch, watching the TV. “Have you seen the news? I think everyone has a problem. Here, have a sit down.”

Jake is barely listening to the TV report in full as his mind skims over it. In short, K-R-Terra finally got into Universe “Four”, having nicked a world in Universe “Five” when no one was looking. Just fucking typical. They hear the squeak of a door.

“You left the front door open, didn’t you?” Roxy asks hesitantly.

“Woops.” Jake says.

They jump up as Aradia staggers into the flat, a wicked grin on her face, a sharpened axe in her hand, and blood all over her dress.

“Oh, fuck!” Roxy calls. “Get her!”

Panic kicks in, and they start grabbing and throwing everything in reach. Soda cans, sofa pillows, a tissue box, that one pizza box on the table. Roxy ends up whipping out a small black knife and ramming it into Aradia’s throat, causing the troll to fall to the ground, dead. They stand there in silence for a moment. The phone rings.

“I’m gonna get that.” Jake says.

“Yeah.” Roxy responds.

**2097**

Shade is 14. It’s been a year since the closing of T̵͚͚̏ḩ̴̖̑̽ḙ̶̢͌ ̶͖̿Ļ̸̫͒͝è̵̘̄ä̶͎́̆k̶̡̬͂̾, K-R-Terra’s UK Invasion, and Operation Nemesis. Over the past year, he’s managed to take note of the various programs besides the six of them around the house. There’s Bateman, who manages the house when his father is gone. Amy, the assistant. There is Smith, who functions as his bodyguard and looks and sounds like Hugo Weaving, which Shade suspects is simply for the gag. There are also a few more of them; Johnson guards Shatter, and Jackson, Brown, Thompson, and Jones seem to alternate between who they guard among the other four programs. There are Cain and Abel, those two guys in the basement who do nothing but stare at screens and flick switches all day. There’s also K, who seems to live in a single underground room with a map of the world tree and several dozen doors around. He thinks there might be more, but it can be a bit hard to tell when they duck in and out at a moment’s notice.

Shade is currently standing in the woods, waiting for his new friend to show up. Forrester is physically 14, but he’s actually 24 and has made himself younger. They are both aware of this fact. Shade turns and sees Forrester walking up to him. He’s wearing an orange shirt.

“Hey, man.” Shade says, and gives Forrester a fistbump.

“Hey Shade.” Forrester says. The two of them start walking through the forest. “So, has your dad ever done any proper Turing tests with you all?”

“Well, occasionally with Chrono.” Shade says.

“Ah, the Calliope from beyond or whatever.” Forrester says. “From an incident that hasn’t even happened yet from either of our perspectives.”

“God, what a weird world.” Shade says.

“I know, right?” Forrester says. “Speaking of weird…” he says, pausing and turning on his heel to face Shade, causing the other boy to also pause and turn.

“Yes?” Shade asks.

“Have you ever been below that house?” Forrester asks.

“Below? There’s nothing below, except all the screens and doors.” Shade says.

“Come on, don’t tell me you can’t sense it.” Forrester says.

“Can’t sense what?” Shade asks, legitimately confused.

“You actually don’t know.” Forrester says.

“No. I don’t know about whatever you’re hinting at.” Shade says.

“Hmm.” Forrester says. “Interesting.”

“What is?” Shade asks.

“You really don’t know what’s down there.” Forrester says. “And you should be able to see everything. Your dad doesn’t want you seeing what he’s got. He gave me the power to see it, but you don’t. Maybe it’s a protocol he’ll relieve when you’re older.”

“What’s down there?” Shade asks.

“I… don’t think I can tell you.” Forrester says.

“Come on, man.” Shade says.

“Look. I get it. You’re entering your teens. You want to be rebellious.” Forrester says. “Word of advice, my friend? Drop it. You’ll get there when you get there.”

“Alright.” Shade finally says.

The two of them walk on in silence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Split in the skin of reality" is a reference to Doctor Who.  
> Also, breaking the fourth wall! Ish.  
> Edge of Tomorrow time, just without the massacre bit.


	5. Five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A list of antagonists.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have... a lot of antagonists.  
> Also, that's not even mentioning the two dead ones: An unnamed insectoid army, and Tyranny.

**Excerpts from “The Multiverse Scourge” by John Harley**

There are a great many threats to our multiverse as a whole, not to just what lies within Yggdrasil. These threats are contained within the World Tree, but cannot be allowed to spread beyond its confines. If the tree dies, the multiverse could die. It is the duty of UMF to protect all worlds from the Multiverse’s many threats.

[...]

The XX-121 Virus, otherwise known as the Xenomorph Plague, is not a threat to the multiverse by a long shot, but it is a threat to Universe “Four”, UMF’s base of operations. It is a result of the aftermath of the Universe “Five” Incident on January 12, 2095, when the _Daedalus_ crashed into central Germany, somewhere a hundred or so kilometres northwest of Frankfurt. Ever since then, it has spread throughout Europe at a relatively unstoppable rate. Models predict that the population of the world will be completely wiped out by February 10th, 2098, approximately 27000 hours after first contact. If Earth 4 is overrun, then UMF may have to move their base of operations, a very risky move indeed.

[...]

The Insurgency is far from a threat to UMF, but is indeed a thorn in the side to be monitored. It is made up of soldiers from both UMF and SCP who have defected from the organization because they believe its methods to be unsound. They fail to grasp that the reason for some of our methods is because the negative effects far outweigh the positive ones in certain situations. Thankfully, they are simply disorganized renegades working alone with no discernible leadership to unite them. If they did actually work together, they may prove themselves a valid threat. Unfortunately, there is not an ounce of organization amongst them. Ironic, I suppose. They wanted to distance themselves from us, and they did so to such an extent that they lost any sense of coordination, thus dooming any attempts they may have of destroying us.

[...]

The Aspects. Once they were the gods of XX-Beta-12, and then they were demons tormenting a world where they did not belong, and then they were nothing but fragments of their former selves, 12 gods doomed to become the aspects that made up the world that they came across. And then they were one entity that drifted between worlds with no particular base of operations save for returning to their old home of XX-Beta-12. They appear to be forming an army of sorts, but it is an army that will not see any use until Ragnarok. The Aspect Conglomerate is not a particularly dangerous threat, as it seems content to build soldiers day after day in preparation for the end of it all. Besides, they are a neutral force, only caring to go after the K-R Kingdoms.

[...]

The K-R Kingdoms. One of our greater foes. They too, once ruled XX-Beta-12, and they too were shattered until the four of them became embodiments of the four elements. Yes, we are nearly living in the 22nd century, and we know that there are a lot more than four elements. Funny, causality itself does not seem to care about science. Jokes aside, they took over four worlds and destroyed their old names, corrupting their Earths and Alternias by spreading their influence throughout the population of both planets. The result is strange. All of the trolls and humans are connected to their respective world’s entities. Every time they die, they are closer to their own and therefore become stronger. As a result, they do not fear death so much as they welcome it. Death is an upgrade. Apparently they only get nine lives, after which they dissipate. They have a weird ritual of sorts where they like to fight their targets with melee weapons only. As long as their foes do not use things such as guns against them, they will not use their elemental powers. The only exception is when they outnumber their foe vastly, in which case they will have no problem with being calmly slaughtered as they march towards their enemies like adrenaline junkie zombies with axes and swords. Each of them has penetrated Universe “Four” at least once, save K-R-Terra. My knowledge of how narratives work tells me that it may not be long before we see them in person.

[...]

The God Complex is the multiverse dumping ground. This is where all of the trash and monsters that don’t wind up in Tau-5 go. And since nothing ends up in Tau-5 anymore after the Vast Erasure, it can be safely said that the extradimensional space has become worse than any hell. There is an old joke across the multiverse, the idea that if a threat cannot be dispatched, one can deal with it by throwing it away and making it someone else’s problem. This worked before, but now the God Complex collects all the junk thrown into other worlds, and it has become one of UMF’s objectives to ensure that no more threats are left to drift in the void lest, quote from John Umbra “The magnet of death be covered in more rusty knives”. The God Complex has a tendency to just land in random worlds. The good news is that it ended up capturing a machine capable of travelling between worlds too, which means that there is now a way of sending it back to the void. It is notoriously difficult to handle and nobody has been able to properly destroy it using any methods, so keeping it in the void is most important.

[...]

The Great Cancer is the entity to blame for the Aspects, K-R, and the Complex. It is, by universal programming terms, a virus. What it is not is a traditional virus. Most viruses are harmful to a program in some way, shape, or form. The Great Cancer is different. It is completely harmless, and simply disguises itself as a harmful virus. At first, it does not seem like a problem in any way. However, it is very bad, the reason being that it makes people actively seek it out and destroy it. This would not be a problem on its own, but the fact that it is everywhere in everything makes that a problem. It causes people to destroy every living thing in sight as a result, as well as entire worlds. All UMF members have been mentally inoculated against its effects, but it is well known that once it grabs hold of you, you will not rest until it is destroyed. But destroying it is most certainly impossible, as we have yet to find any way to do such a thing. Until we do, suppressing it is our best option.

[...]

The Serpent at the End of Time is not real. The Ouroboros is a symbol shared across many universes that originated in Universe “One”, therefore making it perfectly natural for the Ouroboros to exist. One thing that the crackheads of early UMF didn’t seem to understand is that just because a bunch of worlds in Bravo-Whiskey-34 have it in them and one version of the Norse happened to name something called the Serpent at the End of Time, their Jormungandr stand-in, and claimed that it would become the Serpent that Ends Time when Ragnarok came. One thing that the aforementioned crackheads also failed to realize how radically different this world was from our own. For god’s sake, that was the same world where the Aztecs somehow conquered everyone else and destroyed all other religions, Isaac Newton was born several hundred centuries before everyone else and made the wheel leaving some hermit named Craig to make all his discoveries for him, and Adolf Hitler was actually fairly decent for some reason and proceeded to turn Europe into a massive safe haven from all of the Aztecs. I do apologize for so many angry words, but I cannot stress how angry it makes me when I see people worry about something that does not even exist. There is no evidence for it existing whatsoever in any universe. If it did, it died long ago. End of discussion.

[...]

The Dark Sun of Omega-001 is similar to the so-called Serpent in the sense that it is what we call a Placebo-Class Entity. Yes, the Serpent may have existed, but it is long dead by now and the fading memory of it that persists continues to affect us. Similar thing with the Dark Sun, which takes its name from the paradoxical black hole in the center of the world of Omega-001. It makes people think it is the embodiment of it, however, is just one of the many beings from this world, and seemingly the only one that happens to be able to step between universes. It sucks up light around it and yet is completely harmless otherwise. The thing that makes it such a threat is what happens if we destroy it. It is a walking prison. The Light side of it and the Dark side of it will emerge from it if it is killed and will proceed to war for an untold length of time until one of them destroys the other, whereupon the victor will do unspeakably bad things to just about everyone else. Since nobody has found a way to kill these entities, preserving the Dark Sun is considered a maximum priority.

[...]

The Void. We’ve all seen it in our dreams at some point. That black figure hanging in the dark. That’s the Void. Lord knows precisely what caused that specific outcome to occur of all things, perhaps it was an idea from Universe “One” left to expand, but the reason behind the final result is not particularly important. What is important is what it can do. It used to be a version of John Egbert. Unfortunately, he lost it, created a black hole in a controlled environment, bonded with it, and then became it. Thankfully, he was trapped within the very machine that he had used to foster the black hole. He remains there still even long after the death of humanity. Many of us work to keep the device going, for if it fails, the thing inside will be set loose on the multiverse. It has the power to destroy any universe giving time, as it makes worlds smaller and smaller until they are at their most basic form, everything compressed until all the energy is packed into the smallest possible space in a completely dead universe. A big bang frozen forever. The only way to release a world from that state of eternal nothingness would be to kill the Void. But that may be impossible using conventional means. The Administrator has said that it may take him a great many years before he gains the power to kill it. And even if those worlds are allowed to be reborn, they will never again be what they once were. All in all, keep Void contained for as many years as possible. For every other threat on this list will leave the universes themselves alone. Void leaves them trapped in eternal silence forever.

[...]

The Lady of the Void, no relation to the Void itself. She is hard to read at best. At worst, completely inscrutable. No one knows exactly what she is, or how old she is. She is the creator of the Great Cancer. Even the Administrator acknowledges that regardless of how powerful we are, she is stronger. Apparently he can size up to her, but this is her playing field. By making Yggdrasil, she may be confined here, but that only makes her all the stronger. Not a lot is known about her, but the widely accepted belief is that she turned herself into an idea, if only to make herself all the more present. Other than that, she has no physical form, but seems to love screwing with our heads.

[...]

T̵͚͚̏ḩ̴̖̑̽ḙ̶̢͌ ̶͖̿Ļ̸̫͒͝è̵̘̄ä̶͎́̆k̶̡̬͂̾. Everyone always gives me crap for saying it that way, but that’s how it’s supposed to be said. It’s been all over the place and has a tendency to mess up any world it comes across. If we are to use universal programming terms here, then this would be the virus to end all viruses right here. It corrupts any program it comes across progressively, and does all sorts of bad things as a result. There are rifts all over the world tree, and we have been spending a long time trying to close them. The largest one is just off the side of Universe “Four”, sitting there like some kind of tumor. It hasn’t done too much to us yet, so I suppose we have the Administrator or maybe Jesus or somebody to thank for that. But when it does strike, it strikes hard. I remember I was down in Kentucky, and there was this town. It was fine, and then I left for 24 hours. Guess Sigma knew what would happen which is why he called me out, because that whole town got warped to shit. Fried. That’s what they can do. Scrantons can close the big rifts, but closing those is gonna be one hell of a long job.

[...]

The Hybrids. I honestly have no idea how they hell they evolved. They’re a mutated version of the black plague with something else, most likely alien. I would have to guess it’s alien, because no other non-terrestrial virus I’ve found in the multiverse turns people into zombie-esque entities and then causes the hosts to inexplicably gain size until they’re two hundred meters tall and have toxic blood that pollutes air and poisons water. Nothing about them seems to abide by the laws of biology. And they’ve got a queen too, apparently, some entity that controls all of them and is also sentient. She seems to have an insatiable thirst to destroy all other life, or rather make it like them. Meat monsters. They don’t just warp people either, they damage the land too. There have been reports of people hacking open tree roots and finding _meat_ inside them in infection zones. Gross, right? I don’t know how in the hell they got out of their own world, but it doesn’t really matter anymore, because they’re only concentrated in one world; Endstück. Unfortunately, the Administrator is adamant that he can handle it and will _not_ let UMF or anyone else make any attempts to take them down. He’s got a plan, and he can handle them himself. I hope he’s right.

[...]

[REDACTED] has a name, we just can’t say it. Every time we say it, it seems that everyone who knows it gets their brains boiled. It’s an infohazard. So we usually just call it ‘It’. Original, I know. But turns out we can’t use the name that other people gave it either, because that turned into an infohazard shortly after it evolved. Thus, we can’t say that either. Regardless, it’s an entity that has a triangular head, something like 64 hands, 32 forearms, and 16 arms, and a hell of a lot of aggression. No telling what it’s thinking. It’s one of our longest running foes, all it does is run around, cause problems, and leave. Can’t track it. Can’t kill it either, because every time we do, it just reforms in Omega-001, stronger every single time. Apparently even the Administrator doesn’t have a single idea on how to beat it, and that scares me.

[...]

I suppose there is one solution to defeating [REDACTED]. It’s name is Project 86243AR-001. Anyone familiar with the story known as _Homestuck_ , the narrative that spawned our existence, then they will be aware of the object known as The Treasure, an object which allowed a version of myself, John Egbert, access to the ability to control narratives, and also contained four versions of himself and his friends who would later fight Lord English. It is believed by several of us that one of the worlds in Omega-001 devised this project as a method to defeat [REDACTED], using a similar juju. Their versions of John Egbert, Rose Lalonde, Dave Strider, and Jade Harley were groomed to be extremely powerful, possibly as powerful as the Administrator, and were sent into it, but it was cast between worlds. That civilization is still standing, and that juju is still out there. Unfortunately, as discussed earlier, anything that is cast between worlds and remains there is sucked into the God Complex, thus meaning that one of the many saving graces of the multiverse is locked in an infinitely vast prison packed to the brim with all manner of monsters, demons, and gods.

That’s just fucking typical.

[...]

The Mechanical Singularity, otherwise known as Mike, if you want to use military slang. If you’ve ever seen _The Matrix_ , then you’ll know that robots took over the whole planet. Similar thing happened here. There was no sky-darkening on humanity’s part, but Mike took over everything and killed all the humans. I’m not entirely certain what powers them. Could be solar, could be biomass, could be magic. We aren’t entirely sure, and we haven’t really gotten to the semantics of that. Regardless, Mike is our greatest foe. It’s led by something that calls itself Deus Ex Machina (Meta much, _Matrix 3_ fans?) and it is the most patient thing we’ve ever seen. The way it works is that it will take over a planet completely, and once it’s done that, it will start sending probes in every single direction out into space, searching for other planets. I don’t know why they wait to take the whole planet before they send probes, but who knows with them. When they find other planets, inhabited or not, they will set down, and begin to consume. Once the whole planet is theirs, they will send more probes out into the cosmos. On and on until they’ve taken the whole universe. They did this to their home, and they did it extremely patiently. One of those worlds must have had multiverse tech, maybe it was the insect people again (long story, long-dead foe), and they got out. They seek to spread through every world in every universe. I wouldn’t call them evil. They think that everything should be like them, and they believe that that is the best thing to do. We have been fighting them everywhere they end up relentlessly, and they are patient as always. The homefront is going to end up being Golf-213, but we haven’t mass invaded yet. Regardless, we can’t let them take a single planet in a single universe. Because if they do, we won’t be able to stop the billions of probes they’ll send out. For as powerful as we act, we’re just soldiers. At most, we can get 96% of them on the way out, but we’ll still be defending millions of worlds. Apparently the best way to kill them is to blow up their galaxy, but… I don’t even know if we can do that.

NEW ENTRY:

The Four Children of God… I… fuck, I’m sorry. Shard… Shadow… Shackle… Sharpen…

I’m so sorry.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The '27000 hours' is a reference to The Thing.  
> The Dark Sun of Omega-001 cameo-d in Act III. It was avoided because it's spooky.  
> The Hybrids. We'll see them in Endstuck.  
> Mike also gets his own story in Golf-213. It is... not pleasant.  
> Also, what happened to The Four Children of God that would make John want to apologize?


	6. Six

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A pre-action buildup.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we go.

**2096, September 14th**

Jade examines the Chrono-Cure. It’s shaped like a gun, but with switches and knobs in the side. Light shines through the small rectangular slots in the barrel. There are two lights on either side of the main switch, a magenta purple and a golden yellow respectively. It has tubing and wiring leading into a metal pack of sorts on her back, where it processes power and energy among other things. Jade pauses in front of the gaping hole in reality. Six soldiers from the SCP task force Epsilon-11 stand on either side of her.

“Unto the breach.” Jade says, and steps through into the rift.

Bit by bit, everything

Just

_ B e n d s _

R̷e̶a̶l̴i̵t̴y̸ ̴s̴p̷u̷t̷t̷e̸r̸s̶ ̶a̷n̴d̴ ̵d̸i̵e̴s̴ ̶b̷e̸h̵i̶n̵d̷ ̴t̶h̵e̴m̴.̸

T̴̨̿͑̋i̵̳̤̝̋m̴̩͖̟̊̔̕ẹ̸̌ ̸̢͖͎̆̆͝d̴̥̼̭̾ḯ̸͜ē̴̻̗s̷̫͋̈́ ̸̻̱͍̔̽a̴̪͆̏n̴̬̫̘̑̂͝d̶͓̎̿͝ ̶̺̌̍m̶̖̜͈̕ë̷̫̻̹a̴̠͖̅ͅn̷̰͛̅i̸̝̩̾͐n̷͎̕g̴͇̈́ ̸̤̆͠l̷̢͂o̵̤̯̼̍s̸͔̬̘͌e̶̩̝̍s̵̙̺̫͗̒ ̵̨̂̂͝i̶̬͋̏t̸̡̮̫͆̀̇s̷̥̞͈ ̵̻̹͐m̴̺̩̗̈́ẹ̶̮̠̎̈͑a̵̭͒n̵̲̓͂ĭ̵̧̻n̴̹͆͆g̸̗͓͂̿̉.̷̡̈́

Ṭ̸̡͇́̊͆̓̔̒̐͘ͅh̴̢͇̮̞̮͖͚͚̉̐̊ͅȅ̶̤̲͙͚̩͈͚̱̤͓͛̾y̴̯̎͂͐̈͜͠͝ ̶͙͋̕s̴̛̼͓̦̝̖͎̙̩̍͆̓̐͜ͅt̷̼̭͎͈͚͔͉͌̑ͅë̷̥̹͙̦́̌͑̄̈́͘p̵͇͓͖̋ ̷̛̲̹͍̣̟̖̈́͐̄̐͒̏͜͠͠i̸̢̭̻̩͉̐͛̈̄̈͘̕̕͜n̷̨̫̜̙͈̼̼̙̳̏͒̂̽̇͋̉͛ͅt̵̟͔̠͈͎͉̖̟̹̂͂͂̇̓͛͝o̸͇̦͉̞̗̺̪̘͍̎̈́̒̔͘̚͝ ̸͇͈̩̽̀̋̐͛̉̕͝t̶̗̗̰̰̤̙̘͕̙̑̊͐̆ͅh̴̼͛͐͆̕ȩ̸̣̰͍̘̼͖̣͇̤̒̔̔̅͊̎̋ ̶̝̳͚̎͐̈́̇̑b̶̛͈̂̈́̚̕͝ȓ̶̢̭̦͓̹̯͈̪ȍ̴̥̠̖̈̋̓̚k̴̡͖̲̦̯̹̩̏́̿ę̴̮̩̰̖̰͔̣͋̅̈̏͌͂͂̒̋͠n̷̢̗̯̙̺̊͒̐͑̆ͅ ̵͔̟̦͍͆̇͂͊̌̉̿ẅ̶̨̨̛̙͇́̓͆̈́̑̂̌̕ơ̸͕̟̙̻̲̭͍͑̔̀̾̃̑̓̚ŗ̷̢̼̗͇̺̖̏̾̄̽̈͑͌̕͝ĺ̶̯̹͔͉̖͖͖͓̚͜d̵̗̥̖̪̤̲͈̕ ̷̧̠͈͒̓̊͒̓̕͝ȏ̷͓͎͈̄̔͝͝n̵̨̺̳͙̍̌̊͒̚̚ͅ ̵̢̬͉̺̺̈́̇t̶̨̳̠͉̱͓̜̼͉͆̈́̿̈́h̵̢͍͈̻̥̼̮̤͍̐ę̶̮͚̫̝̫͕̂̀͂̚ ̴̡̨̭͇͗̿̇̃̚͝͝ͅỡ̸̦̣̈́̈́̃̏͊t̵̩̘̘̝̄̃̌̀͘ḩ̶̢͙̘͉͙̣͔̝͝ͅë̸͈̱̣̪͓͒̀̈̊̂͝ͅr̵̢̧̛͑͜ ̸̧̧͈̣̙̳͕̹̂̍̇̇͜s̴̳̭̫͆͐́͐̆͘̚i̴͓̼̫̖̪̰̺̗̥͋̐͐͑̈́d̷͍̠̭͈̩̝̹͐͗͑̽͆̋̾̍̌e̶͙͉̖͎̼.̸̱̿̋͂̓͛̃̕

"̶̤̹̠̯̘̼͖̜̩̤̈W̴̠̲̬̯̯̞͖̙̾̇̿͜e̸̜̤̓͆̀̿͛̂ļ̸̫̗̩̟̖̘̼̰̪̟̖̍͋̀̿̇͐̉̽͑̈́̑͘͜͠c̵̫̗̋̌̍̀̊͂̊͆̚͝ǫ̴̛͍͎͗̍̂̏̕̚m̸̧̮͋͛ĕ̴̡̛̮̗̘̍̆͂̃͑͝ ̴̨͕͉̜͚͇̤͋̎̿̎́̊̀̓͝ͅt̴̟̟͔̤͓̘̗̂̓̄̋͐͊̐̄̇͜͝͝ǫ̵̩̙̟͎̉̿̆͊͒̾̅̏ ̷̨̢̿̑͆͛͘̕T̷̵̸̷̸̷̨̛̻̻͉̪̻͔̮͍̞̻̪̲̜̻͚̝͎̠͈͇͚͙͓̙̥͖̘̻̰̰͕̹͚̯̟̲̯̘̼̝̑̈́̋̐̾͐̃̓̓̍̋͛́̅̉̆̏̑̑͐̇͒̈̄̆̉͗̊̏͝͠͝͠͝͝h̵̴̷̴̷̷̴̡̧̢̧̧̛̛̹͚͙͎̥͈̻̯͖̪̭̥̪̖͙̹͙̖͉̗̠̹̬̦͉̫͓̠̖̦͎̰̳̳̯̟̤̲̼̏̂͗̇͆̽̅̓̏͌̉̑͂̎̎̈́̉͑̂̄̃͌̈́̑̿̅͐̆̈́̿̎̈͛̏̽͛̎̊̐̍͒͜͜͝͝͝ͅe̶̶̴̵̶̶̢̡̡̢̧̢̛̛̫̳̲͇̪̝̣͈̲̱̰̮̱̗̹̗͈̮̦̭̰̗̞̺̹͓̦̍̐̿̋̒͛͌̏̄̊͆͆͌̈͛͋͐͛͗̐͐͗̿͑̔͒̐͆̀̽̄̕̕̕͝͠͝ͅ ̸̶̶̴̷̵̨̢̢̨̨̟͕̳̫̖̪̗͕͕̙̖̠̲̬̰̘̤̮̪͍͈̜̗̣̮̻͙̹̲͙͖͙͖̼͙̜͎̭͚͑̆̀̈́̄̅͋̆̈́̓̂̓̄̿̈́͌͋͋͒̈̆̈͌̔͆͆̊̿̄̉̚͠͠͝͠͝ͅͅͅL̴̸̸̶̷̷̵̨̧̡̧̨̛͕͙̻͉̣̳̗͙̻̯̣̩̜̫̗̥̻̫̣̩̤̠̤͍͈̜͚͌̈́̿̄̊́̓̍͛͛̃̈́̈́͊͑͒̏̓̋̒̈́͒̒͐̈́͋͆͐́̎̌̇͋̀̅̑̔̈̃̎̅̿̂͘̚͝͠͠͠ȩ̴̵̴̷̴̸̧̨̫͉̣͔̘̻̰͍̙͍̫̗̝̺͍͎̙̪͖̦̖͕͙̻͕̘̙̺̤̜͙́̓̉͑̾̊̍̏̈́͋̈́̀̀̃̂͑́̽͌̈́͒̄̒̇̊͐̎̊̈́̈́̄̏̄̚̚͘̕̚ͅͅͅa̴̶̶̸̸̶̢̢͕͈̫̼̘̪̗͖͇͈̱̹͉̰̜̺̟͈̹͉̺̥̰̖͉̭̣͓̲͎͚̮̝͖̞͎͍̟̜̲̲̤̭̩̲̖͉͆͌̔̽͑͂͛̈̐̉̈́̈̉̆̅̓̑̄̈́̃͌̄̆̅̏́͂͋̑͘̚͘͜͝͝ͅķ̵̶̴̵̵̵̶̡̳̞̫̼̤͎̮̯͙̞̟̩̝̥͓͈̠̘͔̟̳̜̣͈̯̦͈̜͎̪̼̬̰͖̰͕͖͙̻͉̼̞̜̣̹̼̪͕̠͙̳̤̾̈͆͆͆̅̃̅͒͒͆̉̏͂̈́͐̾͐̿̅̾̅̐̈́̈́̒̈̓̈́̈́̃̿̒̓̉̄̔̌͒̓̌̓͂͆͆̕͘̕͘͝͝ͅ,̶̧̧̛̳̬͍̜̖̲̰͍̫͕͖̆̐͌͂̈́͊͆̂̈́͜ ̵̢̲͍̰͂̈̄͝͝ͅb̷̨̰̼̹̝̲̰͍̠͔̰͖̔͂̔̓̓͐͘͝o̶̢̳̗͓͉̾̔y̶̢̛̟̹̘͓͕̘͉͖͈͛̀̒̚͜ș̸̺̺̘̼̠̟̠̹̣͈̫̫͒̿̌̊̾̅̃̈́̈́̓̉͛̚ͅ ̸̡̥̓̏̿͑̋a̸̮͉͉̺̰̟̪̗̎̊́̈̌̈́͑̏̾̋̾̍̃n̷͈͙̙͍̦̹̬̙̬̥̣͊͐͛͌͊͛d̸̰̤̠̜̹̮̍͋̿̊̒͝ ̶̻̦̙͋̚ǧ̴̢̠̮̣͈̗̈͗͒̿̉į̵͙̙̍̽͘͘r̷̥̥͚̘̬͎̩̮͊͊̌ͅl̸̨̢̡̤̰̜̜̭͈̲͚͚̄̐̓́̂̆̀̌̕͜ͅs̶̪͉̈́͆͒̍̕.̶̡̜̳̫̀͑̏̉͒"̷̨̛̙̦̬̺͕͇͈͔͒͐́̅͆̈́͒̓̿͒ ̵̨̥̣̺͍̅͐͐͝ͅJ̸̪̠̤̤͇̲̭͉̪̹̲̬̀̑̓ͅå̶̛̜̺̜̥̹͓̗͙̺̻̹̦̩̌̓̅̉͒̎̎̉̏̕ͅd̴̥̙̏̌̾̃̈̊̂ȩ̸̟͙̙͎͓͖͎̗͍̝̓͂̋̃͗́͛͂̾̎̿ ̴̯̺͉̀͋̃͒s̴̡̡͖̗̱͍̪̹̍̉̽̃̓̌͌̃͒̂̃̌̚ͅa̶̢̢̦̼̙̩̯̳̟̅̓̓̂̄̅̃͊̽̓͠͠y̴̢̢̯̭̳͔͖͚̠̘̫̺̯̬̿̄̋̄̈s̵̟̗͙̯̟̩̺̒͆̓̌̏̇̒̌̚̕̚̚ͅ.̴̢͎̮̞̜͓̠̯̖̱͇͐͒͑͌̑̓̇̀̒̎͊͝ͅ

"̶̻̗̞̯͇̭̥̲̤̙͎̫̆̈́̅̿̅̔̋̓̍̋̽̑̆͂̄͂̂̚͝Ì̴̢͕͉̹̮̭͈͙̠̣̰̞̖̈̀͐͜͜ṭ̸̭͙̞̺͙̍̔͒͌̈́̈́̃͗̋̂̕͘͝ ̷͕̗̠̜̺̲̗͙̦͔͔̳̿̿̆̾̍͆͂̉̐͋̽̃̍͊͘͝͝f̵̨̨̯̱̣͇͕̤͍̎̋̇͠ë̸̹͎̭̥̟̮̜̼̪̙̃̈͜͝e̷̛̙͚̣͕̟̻̳̖͊̂̈́̈̅̓͘͠l̵̡̨͉͖̘͔̦̩͎̰̥̭̄̂̆̿̏͝s̸̢̨̡̘̼̣̻̰̼̫͖̙̥̿̎͊͜͜ ̷̨̣̖͙͉̜̟̹̮̞̙̱̲̩̆̍̀̀̈̆͛͗̋̀̾̍͌̅̆̒̂̌̾̕͜͜ļ̵̡̢̙̠̭̘͙͓̘̘̺͇̺̌̽͜i̵̛̺͖̗̱̩͍̻̟̝̼̬͇̠̯̱͉͇̒͌̄̍͋̍͊̌̍̀̃̑͑͠͝ͅk̶͕̓̓̾̊̽̐̐̌̊̄̂͊͗͑͠͠ẽ̸̛̼̞̬̣̻̞̥̥̤͈̫͓̜͎̙̠̟̼̉͐̋̽͂̔̏̈́̿̓̿̈́̉̃̀̕ ̷̩̞͕̻͕͙̗̭̻̠̖̘̱̽͌ͅe̴̢̛͓̞͍̺̯̦̭̬͎̫̳͙̤̪̞̘̩̦̙̓̆̾͐̌̊̊͘̚ẍ̴̢̛̘̮̫̮̦̜̲͚͕͈̟͐̋̈́͝͠͝ͅi̷̧͙͛̌̆̑͘ş̴̧̝̲͍̌̈́͂͗͛̔̓̂̌̍͊̓͑̉͝͝t̵̡̛͈̝͕̭̹͋̇̓̈̽͝e̷̢̢͍̼̯̣̬͕̥̺̖̖͔̺̦̐̓̉̔͛̈̈̃̎͑̈́̈́͗̊͗̂͂n̷̖̜̄͊̕c̶̨̩̯̜͓̘̣̦̹͙͂̏̅͛͛̆̒̾͘͜ȩ̷̡̧̣̞͓͍̜̘̗͖͖̦̥̥̰͖̱̻̤̎͋̊̄͗̂͊́̑͘̚͝ ̷̢̢̧͚͎͈̤̦͓̝̠̫̫̳͔͖̽̂̋̿̎̈́î̶̢̞̪̦̣͓͙̝̗̩̠͕̲̠͂̒̒̍̋̈́̆͂̈͘̚̚s̷͓͖͎͉̣̖̩̠͂̂͌̃̑͊̌͒̀̒͛̚ ̶̰͔̓́̑̌͝b̸̧̳̜͊̃̔̈́͑͑̏̀͊̏́̃̚̕͘̕͝ļ̴͚͈̤̼̜̤͔͉̮̪̟̫̮͇͕̫̮̹̈́̃̃̿̒̐̑͂̋͘̚͜͝ȩ̵̪̲͓͖͎͔͓̺̫͉͉̗̖͇̳͕̣̃͋͐̒̀̈́̇̿̈́͑ė̴̬͇̟̤̬̲̣̬̓̈́̌̓͒͋͗͝d̸̢̨̙̫͍̲̱̣͕̦͙̥͌̑̆͗̃͛̇̒̾̓͛͒͒͐͛͠i̵̧͙̟̞̬̮̮̗̖̗͚̠͗͛͜n̸̬̪͈̝̼͉͙̞͌̓͌̒̂g̵̦͔͇̝̠̪̊̽̉̒́̽̎͗̆͗̈́̌̆͐͝͝͝͝.̶̡̡̐̿̈́̽͑͝͝.̵̛͖̩̟̬͐̽͂͒̐̕̕.̷̨̢̡̧̢̛̻͍͓̰̯̲͕̦̝̖̝͓͓̤̅͒͋͂̋̈͆͗̍̎͌̓̏̒̑͑̚͝"̴̳͍̱͚̞̫̅͗͗͝ ̷̨̥̠̯̺̙̏̈́̕͠͠G̵̛͚͍̼̠͔͖̲̳̟̐͗͆̾͋̑̀̆̅̔̐͂̈͐̐͘͘͜͜͝a̶̡̨̛͚̹̣̣̞̱̙͖̼̰͓̼̥̪̜̣̘̞͂̍̎͆͛̕͠r̴̜̮͂̓̀͑̓͊̑̉̆̏̈́́ḑ̴̨͇͕͉͛̔̔ͅe̸͙̣͕̼͔̤̲̭̲̤̪̞̐̈͑̓̏̓͛͘͘͝͝ņ̶̨̳̭͓͔̠̯̣̯̥̬̮̥ë̴͚̦̩̆̋͆̃̓̕͝r̵̡̧̧̗͔̝͉̘̖̭̭͐̏͛̆̀̋̈́̄͑̿̍̈͛̃̑͛͜͝͠͝͝ͅ ̴̨̡̧̲͇͎̰͖̥̟̗̘̯̠͎̜͉͇͔͂̎͛͋̽͂̋̐̾͂̾͊̓͆͛̈́͘͜͝s̷̡̡͎̫͔̫̞̝̤͚͙̝̫̞̠̠̏̊́͆̇̆̓a̵̡̺̱̰̻̤͙͚͎͚͕͊̋͋̒̅͌͊̒̌̽̊̿͘̚͘͠y̷̩͍̖͚̼̜͍̬͔͚͉̝̖͇̮͔̖̒̀̏̒̽̇̅͑̀͑̓̐̄̒͘͜͝͝͠ś̶̢͕͉̟̹̹̙̫̮̳̯͕̜͙̟̼̘̄͌̈́͗̅̚͜.̸̧̢̡͈̹̩͎̰̪̤̲̬̝͔̟̠̹͕͚̿̈́̐̃̃̔̉̌̾͊̇͆̾͘͜͠

"̷͇̭̳̉̇̆̊̾̈́̉̑̊͐͘̕͠B̶̡̛̤̤͗̒̃͋͂̈́̃̉̃̈̓̚e̴̡̧̨̢̧̦̬̭̼̟̰͉̠͉͇̥͎͓̘͚͔̯͖̹͚̽͑̈́̓̾̃̉̚ͅͅḉ̷̛͍̤̲̯̤̤̹͔̻̮̬͈̪͖̎̽̂̍̔͊̌̐̃̀͗͒͛͝͠͝͝ͅa̶̢̛͈͖̽͌̿̏̍͒͗̓̍̋̇̌̂̽̋̆̃͑̏̚̚͝ṵ̸̼̰̺͖̳͍͔̈́̅́̈́̽̈́̚͠ͅs̴̨͔̫͓̺͔̥̞̪͉̮̭̼̪̙̠͓͗̈̂̄̉̊̈́̎̑̿̉̓̽́̔̎̉̔̆̿͠ͅe̵̱̭͙͍̱͖͍͔͉̻̗̲͑̍̂̃̎̔̾ͅͅ ̷̨̡̡͎̝͇̲͍̜̭͚̗͉͚͚̩͎͓̻̩̳̎̎͋̾̂̀̎͘͝i̷̢̛̛̙̥̳̭̅̑͒̌͐̊̀ṭ̴̢̛̺̣̳͇̫̱͚̩͚̟͉̤̣̮͔͕͕̝͓̊̄̒͊͒̆̌̆̈́̎͌͘̚͜͜͝͝ͅ ̷̡̨̭̤͕̙̘͕̠̮̪͕̜̗̝̹̥̩̪̘̊̓͋̀͗͛͗̈́̈́̈̃̿̓͛͒̓͒̋͗̚͘͝͠͝͠ḭ̴̧̢̣̟̪͚̹̬͆͒̋̃͛̈́͊̽̌̎̎̾̄̊̏̉̋̕͘ş̵̡̡̰̥̝̤̯̪͖̼͓̥̗̠͌̂̐͝.̸̡̡̧̢̛͎̠̲̰͖͖̹͕͔̦͍͓̽̇͛͆̈̑̔̚͘͜͝͠"̶̨̨̨̜̲͖͉͍̬͎͍̣̻͐͑̊͌͆͗͑̄̿̕͜͝͝͝͠ ̸̢̢̧͇̩̹̩̪̗̬̖̗͕̺̰͉̬̖̳̹̱̠͙̹̟͚͌̍̅̏̐̀̐̾̓͋͛͌̇̀̉̓̓̔̿͆̾̕̚͘͜͝J̸̡̛͇̘̰͕͔̼̣͉̲̜͙̺̪̰̠͎̗̣̯̤͙̐͂͗͂͒̀̿͆͛̒͜͜͝a̶̡̧̛̭̱̻͎̮̝̐͑̐̀̊̍̎̅̏̓̿̂̕͝͠͝ḑ̵̨̛̠͚̻̬̖̯̬̤̙̠͍̗͍͓̝̱̞̞̠̘̘̽́̈ͅͅę̶̛̘̙̩̱͈̗̺̜̝͕͔̰̹̫̬͇͈͎̼͇̦̌̅̒͊̔̽̔͗͂̎̿̅̆̂͂̂̄̍͑͘͘͘͜͜͜͠ ̵̧̛͉̖̩̦͖̩̪̣̳͖̰̖̯͔̫̘̬̝͔̮̈́̐̓͂̓̒̆̉̓̂̍͐̄́͗̿̈͘͝s̶̟̝̝̅͆̒a̵̧̢̨̢̛̺̪̝̺̱̖̩̯̫̒̋͑̈̊̔̒̿̾͘̕̕ỹ̶̧̧̡͍̱͇̪̠̦̠͇̗̬̪̱̩͔̼̩͓̯͔̩̈́͗̈́͛͐̈́̍̇͋̌s̴̩̗̬̝̈́.̷̲̃̈́̿́̉̿̀̐̀̚̕̚͝

Ṫ̶̢̛͎͖̤̹̙͙͗͂͆̾̽̉̏̇͛̾̆̂̿̚͘͘͝͝͝h̸̢̧̛͈̼͚̯̲̘̬͚̱͔̬̰͈̥̰̼̬̝̺̝̼͓̬͍͐̍̽̈́͛̀̅͑̉̆̕͘̕͘͜ę̴̮̥͎̦̯̬̟̫̤͙͖̘͎̹̑̈̽͂̐̊̆̒͐͛̓͛̅̇̚ ̵̧̛̗͉̻͉͉̜̟͚̮̹̖͖͙̗͕̼̩͍͓͇̜̔̆͒̎͊͆̇̎̉̌̽͒̈́̋̊̕̚͘͜͝ͅn̵̨̠͕̳̺̗̻̹̝͉̙̦̻̩͍̮̫̣͔̗͖̪̮͚̳̦̤̂̐̓͊̆̍̔͐́̅̈̇̆̃̎̈́̆̾͐̉̚͠ä̴̛̘̜̫̼͕̝̳̜̟̪̝̻̱̖̮̗̘̤̥̹͍͍̠̪̮̮̱́̏̋̍̋̅̊̇̚͘͘ṟ̷̛͇̥̼͔̖̟̅̊͊̆̇͌̈́͒̌͆̎̽̒̒̓̌͒͘͘͘͝r̴̢̨͓̼̺̘͉̟̥̯͔̦̬͎̼̪͐̍͜a̸̢̧̞̝̩̘͖̮͈̝͕̳͈͆̿̈͌̄͌͋̊́̒̀̚͠͠ͅt̷̛̟͙̘̖̣̺̪̹͎̗̠̰͈̬̊́̀̍̔̒̆̈́̇́́̾̃͑͑̋̊̈́͘̕͝ͅȋ̷̹̝͇͙̖͓̿̏̒͊͗̈̂̏̽̏̃̕ͅv̵̢̛̛̛͚̳̠̫̤͓̜̯̭̱̈́̽̂̓̾̇̒͊̃̓͒̿͂̌͂̓͐̾̂͠͝ͅe̶̛͓̣̯̥̳͍̬̠̍͗ͅ ̶̨̟̳͍̻̗̹̘̳̱̙̥̕s̴̢̳̳̥̤͕̼̫̯̈̇̉͐̌̔̅͗̔̈̑́̔̒͒̚͘͝͝ṗ̵̘͇̅͛͒̆͒͆͛͑͗̉̍̏̈́͂̆̌͒͂̚͝͠͝i̴̢̧̘̭͚̮̥̮̼͎̮̗̦̩̲̬̚͜l̸̡̧̨̛̜̜̗̦͙̮̯̝̞̝̫͙͎͓̾́̑̆̂̔͐̍́̔̾͂̄̈́̀̚̕̚͠͠ͅl̵̢͎̖͚̥͎͑̆͂̐͆́͂̒̿̌̍̎̌͑͂̿̇̒͆̏̈̕͜͝ͅͅͅͅš̷̨̡̠̱̦̦͖̘̗̮̘̜̲̩͔̲̹̼̬͚̱̳͍̱͇̮̠̓̍̋͊͋̈́̑̋̔͐̕͝ ̴̙͐̒̏̈́͑̓̐̎̈́̾̏̎̏͂͂̐͂̚͝͝͝d̴̨̢̞̤̥̱͙͍̺̙͙̬̖̙̪͈̻̓͒̃̓̈́ö̴̢̟̪͙̘̭̖͎̞͙̬͈̖̪̗͇͉̘̜̜͕́͜͠w̶̨̛̗̬̼̙̳͔̖͈̱̩̲̩̪̫̮̗̺̩̏͋͐̓̾̎̑̈͂̂͛̄̓̚ņ̸̢̢̧̧̛̛̳͇͓͖̤͔̣̮̗͈͎̣̪̯̞̞̭͇̈́̄͛̌͒͌̒̈́͛̍̒̒͛̈́̕͠ ̷̨̱̥̥͈̤̼̣̮͓̻͉̠̗̖̳̩̤̞͙̱͔̱͚̹̊͂a̷̢̹͍͖͈̳̱̅͂̓̽͌̐́͊̽̓̅̿͛̾̆̓͌̎̔̈͜͝c̸͇̖̏͊͜r̴͔̮̹̹͈̩̻̖͇̪̺͔̜̂͛̊̆̿̓̈́͌͂͌́̀́ó̵̡͕͉͍̦̝̙͚̯͓̮̘̻̩̙͚̙̩̙͉̉̆̌ŝ̸̢̡̮̲̜̟̗̘̺̰̯͔̮̞̺̃̂̊̅̉͗̀̌͗̌͌̍͊̽͆͘̚̕̚͝͝s̷̨̬͍͙͍̠̱̐̀̅͆̿̆̾̓̈́̊̋̐̕͘͝ ̵̧̨̢̨̡̧̛̹͙̙͈̩͚̼͖͇̖̜̐͋̋͛̓̒̊̓̀̓̈̍̌͐̔̚̕̚͝ť̶̙͈̠̬̙̤̫̪͙̲̼̼͇̲̝̮̱̩̏̓̎́̔͊̔͛́̈̃̀̓̏̾̔̅̄̅̍͘͘̚͜h̸̡̧̨̗̦͉̺̯͉̮̯̘̳͔͔̮̳͖͔̫͖̼͙̉́̓̑̉̉͆̿̓̑͛̉̓̒̾͂̂͆͒̂͗͆͜͠͝ͅe̸̡̡̢̦̘̪̩̳̹̲̮̝͇̹̤͈̯̲͖̠̳̹͒̋͊͗̾̇̎̿͊̐̓̀͌̐̑̍̈́͊̐̚̚͝͝ ̸̨͉͇̬̹̯̪̏̑͑̿̄̆́̒͗̈́̈͐̿̔̿̎͊̊̈̈̌̕p̶̡͖͖̰̠̞͍͎͇̾̇͋̈́̇͑̍̈́̈́̓̐́̿̓̈́͑̓̎͛̾̋̚͘͘ä̷̜̆̋ģ̴̛̺͎̦̯̩̭̯͇̟͓̱̺̘͚̥͕͍͐̍̽̐̿̌̈̄͆̿̄̎̑̌̏͘͝͝ȩ̴̣̬̤̖̠͇̙̰̘̹̖͚̱̊͘ ̸̢̢̡̨̡̰̬͙̩͖̱̦̞̳̼͓̘̭͔̮͍͚̟̋̑͋̔͑̃̋͐̒̍͋̏̃̈́͐͆̌̊͛͗͘̕͜͝͠ͅͅà̶̢̧̛̗͇̣̞͎̋̔̍̓̈́͊̏̓͒͠s̷̨̢̩̦͓͍̭̣͚̭̜̫͈̘̼̩̗͉̱͋͑͗͑̊̃́̈́̃̒̅̈́̉̑̋̾̂̓̃̓͠͠͝ ̴̡̟̖̩̘͙̲͈͕̘̼̮̠̲͙̳̥̬̩̪͓̱̻̹͇͛͑͜t̵̡̟͓̦͎̲̯̤̻̻̯͙͖̘̠̓͗̋̓̊̅͑̂͋̐͛͘͝͝͠͠e̷͈̫̯̮̘̘̫͉̭̲͋́͂̊͗̒̇̊͐̾̎̓̄̌̀͘̚͘̕͘̕͜͝͝͝͝͝x̶̬̑̀̉́̒̐̃͋̿̌̔̈́̎̈́̋̓̽̋̈́͘͝͝t̸̡̧̜̗̝͉̠̪͎̹̘̯̗̱̒̀̑̔̊͜͠ ̶̢̡̙̝͖̫̖̱̙̖̠͓̝̻̮̏̑̈͋̍̏͂̇͆̀̓̓̽̓͗̿̐̀́̑̔̔̕͜ͅb̸̙͓̫̞͔̤̈́́̓͒͐̈́̽l̴̜̻̳͇̮̮͍̲͆̓͒̽̈́̈͆̃̓͘ͅͅḛ̴̺̳̤̪͇̫̜͖̂̅̌̊̔̏̌̑̾͋͊͊̈̑̎̑̾̒̐̈́͊́͜͝͠ḙ̵͍̼͉̲͔̤͓̣̲̪̋͒̑̋͆̉̿͐̓͛̒̈́̔̿̎̔͑̈́̈́͝ḑ̶̢̢̯̖̥̯͍̗̱͔̫͎̼̺̹̮̮̹̞͇͔̖̦̎̇̏ͅs̵̯͗̂͂̉͘͜͝͝.̷̧̡̺̜̙̗͇̦̩̞͍͑̈

J̸̨̛̛̫̣̠̺̭̫͍͕̤̒͗̅͆͂̋͐̀̆̄͋̔͛͊͆͒͌̒̆̏̉͐̏̕͠͠͝ǎ̸̧̛͉̼̬̦̰̫̫͔̱̬̦̗̠͍̹͎̯̋́̍̃͐̑͛̅̓͛̿͊̉͌́͌͠ḑ̴̧͎̝̙̞͚͕̯̻͉̪̖̤̻̻͕̮̙͉͎̟̰̣̟̮̺̘̳̀̾̐͌̓̍͂́͋̈̀͗͗̅̕͘e̷̢̡̛̗͕̥̹̳͔̼͚̩̫̙̹̞̖̪̭̅̅͋̽̑̃͋͛̉̔̈́͐͒́̓̅̈̿͂̏̌̑̈́̅͌͂͒̄̄̄̃̈̿̓̑͘͜͜͝ͅ ̸̫͙͙̇͂͐̎̍̿͛͘f̴̨̡̨̛̯̺̪̭̘̳̺̹̩̭̠̱͇̪̯͍͚̙̥̠̋̋͐̿̍̾͗̃̉̅͛͆̋̚̚͜͜ͅͅļ̵̢̨̛̰̙͉̮̳͕͓̪̪̥̝̣͉̹̘̳̠̱͙̦̽͊̿̋̌̆̄̈́̔̽̅̓̃̃̈́̾̇̕̚̕͜͝͝i̸̡͕̻͚͉̹̰̳̳̮͇̣̬̦̭̤͚̊͋̐̕͝͠ͅc̵̢̡̱͎̭̟̬̰͓͕̜͓̖̗̲̯̞͚̗͖̘̲̪̼͇̯̱͎̫͇̿̽̋͘ͅk̸̻̫̩̩̼͍̩̝̳̒̆̒͌̄͋̈́͒̒̾̓̍̿̈́̋̄̍́̒̔͜͝͠s̴̡͈̹̙̞̯̦̿̎ ̸̧̡̢̧̛̜̼̺̖̱̣̹̜̗̖̣̺̯̞̣̝̩̯̼̯͉̠̞̻͇̘̦̖̦̣̪͕̀̈́͗͊͐̃̑͑͑́͆̆̎̒̔͛̐͂̏͒̀̉̂̾̋̈́͂̕͘̚̚͜͝ͅa̵̢̛̛̪̞̭̳͇̺̥͉̱͎͈͈͔̙̠̱͚͙͔̹̝̺͙͓̻̞͙̪̜͎͑́̚̕̚ͅ ̵̨̛̮̞͎̝̜̮͇͈̝̼̂̔̿͛̄̅͘͝ͅk̴̨̢̛̲̘̗͖̭͈̹͖̱̣̙̫̰̝̮̗͍͚̝̟͈̘͎̻͋͋̽̑̀͐̐̈́̐͌̊͂̃̈́͛̍̃̈̑̇̉͋̾͒̒͒́͗̕̕͜͝͝͠͝͝͝͠ň̸̡͓͔͇̟̩͎̩͚̻̭̹̳̜̻̦̣͎͕̍̌̏͛͆̉́̈́͌̅̄̈́̍̇̐̅̓̈̾͂͌̅͐́̓͋́̂̔̈́̔̓̕̕͜͝ö̷͖͈́͊̏̍̂̕b̵̡̭̝̖͖̺͖̖̻̮͇͎͓͇̦͎̞͂͗̊͒͆̿̃́̂̔̐̈́̕͘͝ ̸̨̧̛̛̛͔̱͕̩̜̐̊̎̉͋̅̅͑͗̎̄̆̉̏̈̇͆̄̚o̵̢̟͙̭̠̻͙̪̞̞͇̙̾̽̆̈́̊͑̈́́̊̀͗̐̽͒̅̃͝ñ̷̡͚̩̖̫͍̹͎͍͙̟̘̟̝̜̈́͆͛̄̈́̑̄̊̃͂͋̂̄̈̌͂̍̍͛̆̽̈́͋̕͜͜͝ͅ ̷̨̤͌̓̓̈́̽̎͛̓͛̔̽̑̽̈́̌͑̅̌̊͊̓̈̿̔̒̇͋̔͋̚̕͘͠͠h̸̡͍̅̆̄̽̌̈́̎̽̈́̆͗̆̓͒̎̃̏̋̂̚͜͝e̴̡̨̢͙̠͔̰̙͍̳̐̐̒̽̐̑̌͐̑̑̈̕̚͜͜͠͝r̷̫͖̳̰̖̣͈̰̫̄͜ ̶̧̼̣̬̱͔͙͓͉̹̝͉̩͉̯̠̰̤̝͕̠̈̓͝ͅÇ̷̛͕̤͛̈́̀̓͐̈́̍͌̈́̌̑̇͛̄̊̐̏͆̿̾͘̕͝͝h̴̛͓̫̹̘͉̘͊̿̑̚r̵̨͕̭̬̬̹̿͒̈́̑̈̔̎̉̂̉͠ǫ̷̡̧̛̭͚͇͇̼͍̰̫̠͔̪̗̳͍͚̘̫̣̤̟̹͔̳̼͇̮͓͈͕̙͕͗̆̽͆̾̅̈́͒͌̄́͛͘͘͜͠͠͝͝ͅͅn̵̛̛͖̫͕̠̩̹͔̐͒͐͗̾͆͌͆̉̓̂̉̐͋̂͂̅̑̾̉̕͘͝ơ̸̢̧̡̢̡̛͙̗̜̮̞̪̖͖̬͙͕͓̙͓͙̤͓̥͇̠͖͙̟̭̳̙̻̾̐̎̉͑͑̓̉͂͗̈̃̍̄̉͐̒̇̊͛̒̕̚͘͝-̸̡̢̨̥̼̞͚͈̗͙͚̭̟͔͕̣̲̗̱̤̹̠͙̻͓͖̈̂̉̈͆̔͆̀͒̔͆͊̍͌̋͐͛͘̕͘͜͝C̸̡̡̠͖̱̙̰̯̦̘͙̥̗͈̮̭̪̟̖̘̯͙͈͉̻͕̬͙͕͇̟̑ͅu̵̧̲̼̦̦͙̟͇͑̑̀̇ŗ̶̨̢̟̞̻̰̥͓̠̖̍̇̋̃͂̒̎̽̽̀͗͒̂̄̎̉͛̉̂̃̃̃̐̌̊̒̚͘ę̶̡͚͎̖͍̪̣̥͖͈̪̪̱̟̟͇̰͉͇͖̝̝̯̯͍̯̘͔̓̓͋͊̋̉̇̍͛̈́̆͋̍̽̚̚͝͠ͅ.̶̹̹̯͖̖͇̹͉͍̳̖̼̱̦̆̌̉͛̃͆̃̀͑̒̈́͒̋̈́̓̈̑͑̒̚͝͠

The text begins to clear up.

The text begins to clear up.

The text begins to clear up.

The text begins to clear up.

The text begins to clear up.

Reality sputters and dies behind them.

Time dies and meaning loses its meaning.

They step into the broken world on the other side.

"Welcome to The Leak, boys and girls." Jade says.

"It feels like existence is bleeding..." Gardener says.

"Because it is." Jade says.

The narrative spills down across the page as text bleeds.

Jade flicks a knob on her Chrono-Cure.

The text begins to clear up.

“That’s better.” Jade says.

“What just happened?” Simmons asks. “I’ve got this feeling of deja vu, like the same thing happened twice in a row.”

“Because it did.” Jade says. “Reality was being messed with, so I activated this device and it stabilized everything. At the very least, it stabilized the narrative.”

The darkness around them brightens, and the land upon which they’re standing becomes easier to understand. They’re in a field of some kind, although it’s completely flat. The ground is a colour that seems almost implausible, as if it doesn’t exist on the colour spectrum and its existence is simply an accident. The sky is no better, flickering between colours and seeming to settle on black every third colour or so. Occasionally, it seems to be made up of multicoloured hexes connected in one big wall. There’s a swirling dark mass in the distance, just beyond the landscape that seems to change every four seconds into something new.

“That’s it.” Jade says as soon as she sees it.

“That’s what?” Goodwin asks. “What the hell is that?”

“The way we kill it.” Jade responds. “Come on lads. This way.”

She starts across the fractured landscape, and the other six follow behind her, guns at the ready and loaded with Class-V Reality Shaper Bullets.

There was no way that Normandy 2.0 wasn’t going to be deadly dangerous, but it certainly got the attention of the xenomorphs. Flame’s fairly certain that casualties stand at approximately 2500 or so dead, and over 7000 injured. However, their invasion does appear to have worked. Focusing on attacks from the sky and then sending in ground forces to sweep for any xenomorphs left over. Even then, with all the training the soldiers have had, their foe is still relentless, extraordinarily deadly, and above all, vicious. Flame sighs, sits back. She’s in a destroyed town, where her side of the invasion force is currently shacked up. The night sky is clear. No clouds, no light pollution, just the stars.

“It’s so quiet.” she finds herself saying. “So peaceful.”

It’s funny, she thinks. There’s all these different universes to visit, but Earth after Earth is known, explored. Space is different. It seems infinitely vast and ever so full of unknowns. The only other planet close to Earth is Beforus, and they’ve never explored anywhere beyond 10 light years, despite all their technology. Thus, space remains unexplored except by old probes. Maybe one day she’ll fly out there before she dies. She’s got a good three years ahead of her. She should use them when she has the time. For now though, it’s all stuck as desires.

The osprey soars over the quiet landscape. Neither John nor Vriska say a word. Cold-Eye keeps peeking over their shoulders and muttering things like ‘we’re not there yet’ before going back to reading his book or whatever the hell he’s doing. The day seems to stretch on and on until it begins to darken and night fills the sky. It’s been a few hours already.

“So, uh, how much longer have we gotta do this, chief?” Serket eventually asks.

“As long as necessary.” Cold-Eye calmly says.

“Well, we’ve been here for hours!” K-7 groans.

“This place has been spatially warped.” Cold-Eye responds.

“What?” Serket asks. “Always the fucking spatial warping.”

“Welcome to Europe.” Cold-Eye says.

“Hey, by the way, who do they call you Cold-Eye?” Serket asks.

“Because of these cold blue eyes of mine.” Cold-Eye says. “Obviously.”

“I thought it was obvious, John.” K-7 says.

“Well, I didn’t know that.” Serket responds.

Gamzee puts down the phone, throws on his bracers, picks up his M16, and marches over to Jane and Moreno. “Jake and Roxy are going to meet us halfway.” he says.

“Good.” Moreno says. “The rest of us are just outside. Come on.”

As the three of them step outside to meet Corporal Janice Anderson and Privates Chambers, Moore, Andrews, and Lowe, Jane speaks. “You said you’ve got a destination in mind?” she asks. Moreno nods.

“In the countryside. We’ll need to take a car.” Moreno says. “It’s got lots of guns and is strategic in the face of Terra’s tactics.”

“What, clog around one spot?” Chambers asks, and Andrews snickers.

“Yeah, and swing their axes at us.” Moore says, chuckling to himself.

“Have any of you ever fought off any K-R invasions?” Jane asks.

“Don’t think so.” Lowe says, and everyone else shakes their heads.

“You won’t be laughing when they close in from all sides and begin to tear you to bits.” Jane says. “Not fun. And I should know, and so should my husband.”

“Well, we’re Epsilon-11.” Moore says. “We can handle it.”

“Better hope you can.” Gamzee says.

“Also, we’re going to be crammed into our car.” Jane says. “It’s only a six seater.”

“That’s a van, innit?” Chambers asks.

“No, it’s not.” Jane says. “Pack in.”

Moore, Andrews, Lowe, and Chambers pack into the back seats while Moreno, Anderson, Jane, and Gamzee take the ones near the front. Looking around, they can start to see Terra drones creeping out from between the houses. As Jane starts driving out, heading for the open countryside, the radio blares various warnings. The only one she really has time to mentally pick up on is a warning along the lines of “If you have any automatic weapons, do not use them, use only single fire guns such as pistols and rifles.”

“I still don’t understand why we’re going into the countryside.” Lowe says.

“Yeah, why not the military bases?” Chambers asks.

“Because that’s where they want us to go.” Moreno says. “They’ll be swarming them.”

“He has a point.” Gamzee says.

“Did you just agree with me?” Moreno asks.

“Screw you.” Gamzee says.

“God, what is it with you two?” Anderson asks. “Honestly.”

“Personal matter.” Gamzee says.

It doesn’t take them long to enter the same neighborhood where they find Jake and Roxy in their car. Andrews and Moore decide to join them in their car rather than stay cramped in this one. The two cars begin to drive through the suburbs, heading for the edges of the city.

David, Ascii, and John are all standing around a black hole-esque hole in reality in a fenced off zone. There are Terra drones crowding around the zone, emerging from the fog. Ascii has her space powers at the ready, John has a shotgun, and David’s got that scottish broadsword of his, or at least he claims it’s scottish and that it has a crazy past.

“So, the plan is, defend the Leak.” Ascii says.

“You’re saying it wrong.” John says.

“Quiet with that. The plan is to defend it? Why?” Ascii asks.

“Because they could get weird if they touch it.” David says.

“Weird how?” Ascii says. “Unless you’re in a warp zone, touching it won’t do shit.”

“It’s not the grunts we’re worried about.” John says.

“Oh.” Ascii says. “I see.” there’s a pause. “So, are they going to-”

“Give them a little while, they’ll do  _ something _ soon.” David says.

**2098**

Shade is 15. It’s been two years since the closing of T̵͚͚̏ḩ̴̖̑̽ḙ̶̢͌ ̶͖̿Ļ̸̫͒͝è̵̘̄ä̶͎́̆k̶̡̬͂̾, K-R-Terra’s UK Invasion, and Operation Nemesis. He’s sitting around reading a book while the Hugo Weaving look alike Agent Smith is busy talking to Forrester in that quiet voice of his.

“What are you doing, anyway, Forrester?” Smith asks.

“What do you mean, what am I doing?” Forrester parrots.

“I have you listed in my database as 25, but you’re physically 15.” Smith says. “So why are you with Shade, exactly?”

“Because he’s my pal?” Forrester says, shrugging. “And also because I got told to by my boss, who's also your boss?” he shrugs. “Other than that, I dunno.”

“Hmm.” Smith sighs. “Don’t try anything.”

“I don’t plan on it, jeez.” Forrester says. “God, you people are so high-strung.”

“Still on your case, is he?” Shade asks.

“When isn’t he?” Forrester asks, sitting down next to Shade. “God, do I ever have problems with authority, especially these people.”

“Uh-uh.” Shade says. “You aren’t allowed to openly state your personality traits.”

“Well I just did.” Forrester says. “So, er…”   
“I’m kidding.” Shade says.

“I know you are, man.” Forrester says.

“Forrester?” Shade asks.

“Yeah?” Forrester asks.

“You ever feel like your whole life has been laid out in front of you and you can’t change it, no matter what you do?” Shade asks.

“Pretty deep for a 15 year old.” Forrester says.

“I can be deep at whatever age I want.” Shade says. “Although seriously, do you?”

“Yeah.” Forrester says. “Sometimes. But you can change it, can’t you?”

“Yeah,” Shade says, “I guess I can.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Leak is weird.  
> Forrester will become more important as time goes on.


	7. Seven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> All relevant individuals.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 47 main characters.

**Condensed Summaries from “Relevant Individuals” by John Harley**

The Administrator. One man who decided to try and right the multiverse’s wrongs alone. He failed fairly miserably at doing it alone, so he set out on a quest to gather together a group of people and form an organization that could stop these threats. Thus, the United Multiverse Federation came into existence. Not much is truly known about him. He runs everything, but in recent years he has retired to the heavily secured world of Endstück and gives orders to the Zodiac Counsel, who manage most of UMF’s operations. He also leaves his three ‘splits’ to manage things as well. I suppose you could apply the two wolves metaphor to that, the one where you have one good wolf and one evil wolf, and whichever one you feed is the one you’ll be, but the Administrator just went right ahead, made a third grey area wolf, and then fed all three of them.

[...]

John Sigma. The Administrator’s Good split, with a bit of bad in him. Basically turned into the stand-in Administrator.

[...]

John Sarrus. The Administrator’s Neutral split, with good and bad sprinkled in. Actually pretty nice. Runs Golf-213 operations.

[...]

John Umbra. The Administrator’s Evil split, with a bit of good in him. Apparently actually fairly decent despite being most of the bad bits.

[...]

Ter3zi. Pronounced ‘Ter-threz-ee’ apparently. Nobody really knows where she came from, possibly a destroyed Universe “Five” Timeline. She is incredibly powerful, and she may have taught the Administrator his powers.

[...]

Forrester, apparently known as Groves in the world of Endstück. Born in November-11 and raised in a time of war with the Mechanical Singularity. Went along with the Administrator and became one of his most trusted advisors. Still working for him, although that’s debatable.

[...]

Shade. The first of the Children of God. The Administrator’s favourite son. Good kid.

[...]

Shatter. The second of the Children of God. Can be ego-driven, but he’s not too bad.

[...]

Shard. The third of the Children of God. Level-headed as always. Nice.

[...]

Sharpen. The fourth of the Children of God. Dislikes what he is. Friendly when he’s not angry.

[...]

Shackle. The fifth of the Children of God. Likes singing. Does have issues with his power levels.

[...]

Shadow. The sixth of the Children of God. Afraid of self. Occasional sanity lapses.

[...]

John Harley (Me). The chief manager of UMF’s operations in Universe “Four” and expert in universal programming, I may or may not have actually discovered/created it. Born in the US and later moved to the UK to be with the other half of my family. I tend to narrate stories.

[...]

Jade Harley. Born in the UK. UMF’s chief manager of T̵͚͚̏ḩ̴̖̑̽ḙ̶̢͌ ̶͖̿Ļ̸̫͒͝è̵̘̄ä̶͎́̆k̶̡̬͂̾. Slightly Irish. Way too serious in my opinion. Could use to chill out.

[...]

Jane Harley. Born in America, moved to the UK. Does all sorts of UMF operations. Likes to mess with anomalies that aren’t in use. Can’t say I blame her. Has crazy blue eyes.

[...]

Jake Harley. Born in the UK. Bit of a slacker. Lives in a flat in the middle of nowhere. Works for UMF but is on and off about it. Does help out family whenever.

[...]

Gamzee Makara. Born in the UK. Does all sorts of UMF operations. Lost something to each of the K-R Kingdoms except for Terra.

[...]

Ascendant Jade, nicknamed Ascii. Survivor of the Universe “Five” Incident. Still uses the power of the Green Sun. A tad naive.

[...]

David Strider. Jade (the first one)’s right hand man. Standard dry humour. Not particularly serious. Aspires to narrate important events. May get to someday.

[...]

Roxy Lalonde. Rogue Black Queen from Universe “Two”, dragged alone with her world’s Dirk when he joined up. Still getting used to some tech. Contains Void in Universe “Three.”

[...]

Jack Bennett. Possible god complex. Unfortunately a bit of an asshole thanks to his god-gifted demonic side. 

[...]

Thomas Hansen. Slight self-esteem issues. Angelic wings. Nice, but can’t make a single metaphor to save his life.

[...]

“Libra”. A dragon in disguise. Sticks her nose where she shouldn’t. Does a lot of bad stuff in her downtime. Wants her infinity stones back, please.

[...]

Sophia Joseph Carter. Also a dragon in disguise, but more as a second person. Runs a giant library with every story (apparently). Wise. But can be a jerk.

[...]

“Chrono” Calliope, otherwise known as The Oracle. Goes on long speeches. Can be annoying, but has gained the ability to see the future, advises UMF about it. Lives in a cabin in the middle of nowhere hidden in an extradimensional space.

[...]

Sergeant Moreno. Leader of SCP Task Force Epsilon-11. Definite hero complex. Ever since the destruction of every anomaly he has doubled down on his megalomania, sadism, psychopathy, sociopathy, and general bad personality traits, possibly as a coping mechanism.

[...]

Hradra Samsara. Leader of SCP Task Force Tau-5. How meta. Emotions suppressed from creation, does have some semblance of personality. Apparently highly relevant.

[...]

General John Egbert-57. Born and raised in a time of war. Runs various operations for John Sarrus himself. Seemingly unable to develop PTSD.

[...]

General Juniper Flame. Female. Much more of a ‘command-from-a-war-room’ kind of general, but doesn’t mind leading in the field. Wants to go to space.

[...]

General Johnathan “Ronan” Brass. A walking scottish stereotype. Slight anger issues. Surprisingly quiet when painting. He likes to paint.

[...]

General John Copper. Brass’ foil. Redhead. Talks a lot. Occasionally makes extremely horrible jokes at the worst times. Casually aromantic.

[...]

General Jonson Sokori. Japanese, I think. It’s hard to tell with him. Has two double bladed lightsabers that he made himself. Runs operations for John Sarrus.

[...]

General Rosaline Amot. Formerly a US military admiral. Rather flirty but can get deadly serious. Fairly quiet and barely raises her voice.

[...]

Colonel John “Cap” Fox. Reminds me of the ‘Napalm in the Morning’ guy from that one film. Leads a chopper squadron and seems to go just about everywhere. Intimidating, but a good guy.

[...]

Colonel Johnson “Cold-Eye” Frost. Can actually detect whether people or events will be relevant or not. Can be cold, as his nickname suggests.

[...]

Colonel Roxanne Somnio Dance. Survivor of the Universe “Five” Incident. Male. Level-headed and voice of reason. Not as willing to get out in the field, however.

[...]

Colonel June Egbert-12. Good walker pilot, apparently she doesn’t actually like it as much. Has hyperacusis, a feature which has saved her many times.

[...]

Colonel Dirk “Coil” Strider. Really likes hanging out with other Dirk Striders. Possibly Ultimate Self. Trying his hardest to not be an asshole.

[...]

Colonel Kanaya Z-38. Likes birds. Who doesn’t? No one really knows what’s up with her. May have a love interest in her superior, Amot.

[...]

Lieutenant John Serket. Amazing pilot. Complete aircraft nut. Isn’t very up to date with most multiverse issues. Somehow hasn’t gotten himself killed yet.

[...]

Lieutenant Vriska Serket K-7. Amazing pilot. Less of a bitch than one might assume all Vriskas to be. Made her husband take her last name instead of the other way around.

[...]

Sergeant Seamus Crocker. Very british. Leads people who act like kids. He’s always setting their lives straight. Psychiatrist and medical officer.

[...]

Sergeant June Trak. Female. Good walker pilot. Very nice but is not the most psychologically fit for intensive combat. Wears a locket everywhere.

[...]

Private “Seven” John Egbert-3771. Gruff and grouchy. Doesn’t like to talk with people very much but tolerates Dean for some reason.

[...]

Private Dean Egbert. Like a kid in an adult’s body, but not in an immaturity way. Does not seem to have been psychologically traumatized in any way. Lucky him.

[...]

Private John Shusen. High pitched voice. Usually operates as a scout and PR worker for operations. Incapable of being embarrassed or traumatized, somehow.

[...]

Private John “Wheatley” Kelson. May  _ actually _ be that one robot from Portal 2 jammed into a John’s body. If so, I don’t know which universe he came from. Extremely immature.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's that Terezi again, turns out her name is Ter3zi.  
> Yeah, John Harley totally discovered Universal Programming, but he'd never admit it. Modest.  
> David, good news. You get to narrate Act II and Act III.  
> That's a lot of military people. The ones we haven't met, we'll meet in the story Golf-213.  
> Copper is casually aro. Yay!  
> Amot and Z-38 need to get together.  
> Ascii and Dance are the two survivors of Act I, the Jade and Roxy that survived. DUN DUN DUN!  
> Portal 2 reference!
> 
> Not all of these 47 characters will survive to Endstuck, several will die. And then more of them will die!


	8. Eight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nearing the end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's all kicking into high gear!

**2096, September 14th**

**_T̵͚͚̏ḩ̴̖̑̽ḙ̶̢͌ ̶͖̿Ļ̸̫͒͝è̵̘̄ä̶͎́̆k̶̡̬͂̾_ **

Jade, Gardener, Edwards, Robertson, Simmons, Goodwin, and Watkins wander through the shifting landscape under the ever-changing sky, heading towards the dark swirling mass in the distance. The whole place looks like a game if every single texture was bugged.

“This place is pretty nasty.” Gardener says.

“Ain’t nothing we can’t handle, though.” Goodwin says.

“You bet.” Gardener says.

“I wouldn’t be so sure, boys.” Jade says. “It could get awfully hairy in here. And we better hope we don’t attract any attention from the locals.”

“The, uh, locals?” Watkins asks.

“The Leaked.” Jade says. “That’s what we call them.”

“How original.” Simmons says.

“Well, we don’t give them numbers of weird names.” Jade says. “It’s simple to say.”

A hole suddenly appears in the ground and Robertson sinks into it. “Oh, fuck!” he shouts as strange textures grasp up at him and try to pull him down.

“Hold still, hold still!” Jade says, lifting up her Chrono-Cure and flicks a knob, causing a magenta light to flicker around the hole and free him from the grasping tendrils. Even still, as the hole closes, one of them stabs into his calf and a strange light spreads up around him before it vanishes completely. He screams for a moment. His scream echoes. Robertson looks… odd. He looks like he’s been pixelated, broken down into thousands of tiny interlocking cubes. Jade flicks the knob back and a yellow light engulfs Robertson, bringing him back to normal. His echoing scream begins to repeat, the same sound every second, even as it fades.

“What the fuck?” Simmons wonders aloud.

“What was that?” Robertson asks, and Jade snarls as the sky settles on black above them, no longer flickering between colours.

“Boys, we better move, it knows we’re here.” Jade says.

“Look!” Goodwin shouts, pointing behind them.

Dozens of warped people are emerging from the ground, clipping through it. Everything about them looks wrong. Elongated limbs, static for faces, strange colours, seeming to be made up of polygons instead of flesh, the whole works. They’re glitching too, and making weird noises. It’s hard to tell exactly what they might be saying, because it sounds like ▒▒▒▒▒▒.

“Watkins, Edwards, hold them back, the rest of you, RUN!” Jade shouts. The other four follow her as Watkins and Edwards hold their ground and fire at the Leaked people as they glitch. The reality shaper bullets shred them like paper, but they keep going. The rest of them run, heading for the dark mass as it swirls in the distance. The landscape continues to reshape itself at an astonishing rate, changing remarkably quickly. The only bits where they seem to stay stable are the ones Jade zaps with the purple beam first. They run up the side of a cliff, gravity not seeming to apply in this place. As they reach the top, dozens more of the Leaked begin to come after them, making that same strange ▒▒▒▒▒▒ noise. Jade uses the purple beam to stabilize the ground in front of them, and then turns around and hits it with the yellow as they backpedal, destabilizing the ground and turning it into an obstacle for their pursuers. They keep going, but several figures come out of the warped ground in front of them and glitch towards them. Their faces are pixelated like in a low quality video. They start shooting, but one of them reaches the group and crashes into Goodwin, pixelating both of his arms.

“Oh, shit, my throwing arm.” Goodwin says as the pixels continue to spread and he starts to warp just like the others. “What the-” he says, but stops as he’s completely overtaken by the broken textures, turning to the others. The only thing he says is ▒▒▒▒▒▒ and then Simmons fires at him, shredding him too and killing him.

“Goodwin…” Robertson chokes out.

“He’s gone.” Jade says. “Just like Watkins and Edwards will be gone too if they’re not already. We have to keep going.”

Behind them, dozens, maybe even hundreds more of the Leaked begin to be generated out of thin air, made from the universe itself. Jade, Robertson, Gardener, and Simmons keep running.

Elsewhere, a V-22 Osprey crashes through a building and several people clamber out of it, shooting at the xenomorphs chasing after them. Cold-Eye, K-7, Serket, as well as Rose, Kanaya, Terezi, and Karkat charge to the stairwells and start to head downstairs into the depths of the facility they’re in, heading for the xenomorph queen buried beneath this building.

“Come on, come on!” Cold-Eye shouts. “This way, this way!” Behind him, Rose half-drags Kanaya downstairs before the two of them slump against the wall.

“Colonel, Kanaya’s wounded.” Rose says. “I’m going to stay with her, hold them off.”

Cold-Eye pauses for a moment, unsure of what to say, before settling on “I understand. Farewell, and good looking out.”

“Thank you colonel.” Rose whispers as Cold-Eye runs down the stairs with the other five soldiers. She turns to Kanaya and takes her hand. “Let’s do this.”

They raise their guns and start firing as the things charge down the stairwell in threes, one group after another. It’s not long before they run out of ammo and pull grenades, blowing the stairwell apart as well as both of them and dozens of xenomorphs. The other five continue on.

The two cars roll to a stop. “That’s a blockade if I’ve ever seen one.” Jane says.

Hundreds of Terra drones are standing at the end of the road, staring at them. Just standing there. Their eyes are a strange impossibly vibrant grey, signifying that they’re in attack mode.

“What should we do?” Chambers asks.

“Not drive straight through them?” Jay suggests. “Just a thought.”

“Maybe if we go fast enough.” Gamzee says.

“They’re behind us too.” Lowe says. “That’s a problem.”

Turning around, they can indeed see that there are what looks to be hundreds more behind them, just standing there.

“And, we’re bottlenecked.” Jay says.

“We could leg it.” Moreno suggests.

“That’s a bad idea.” Gamzee says.

“How is it a bad idea?” Moreno asks. “Because staying here or driving through are terrible ideas. If we stay here, we’re worms in a can. We leave, we might stand a chance.”

“Worms in a can?” Jay asks.

“He says weird things like that.” Anderson says. “I think it fuels his ego.”

“Would you shut up about my ego, Anderson?” Moreno says, sighing.

“Gamz, are you just not wanting to agree with him?” Jay asks. Gamzee grumbles. “You’re not exactly a tactician.” she says. “I’m going with his plan.”

One by one, the Epsilon-11 soldiers file out along with Jay, and soon Jake and Roxy are out too. Gamzee’s the last one out. Moreno gestures forwards for the other nine of them to follow and they begin to cautiously walk between the houses. The Terra drones choose that moment to charge at the group, axes held high. Anderson panics a little and raises his M16, firing bullets at the Terra drones and felling a couple of them. They barely slow. If anything, they speed up.

“Come on!” Roxy shouts, and the group begins to run through the yards of various homes as the Terra drones chase after them. A few of them get a bit too close and slash Lowe across the shoulder and Jay across the arm, but they’re practically nicks.

“Chambers, cover our backs!” Moreno says. “Hold em off!”

Chambers hesitates for a second, but soon stands and starts firing his M16 at the oncoming hordes as the others run out into the countryside. Anderson turns. “Chambers, come on!”

Chambers seems torn on what to do, and the split second of decision is all one of the drones needs to axe him in the neck and force the group to keep going until they run into a small patch of woods. Anderson turns to Moreno. “You just got him killed.” she says.

“Well, he didn’t have to listen to me.” Moreno says.

“No, he didn’t.” Anderson says. “But you ordered him to stay regardless. That’s on you.”

“Come on.” Jay says. “We have to keep going. Moreno, lead the way.”

“We’re not far now.” Moreno says as he leads them along. Lowe clutches his shoulder and winces a little.

David chops off a drone’s head with his sword while Ascii throws several more away with her space magic and John blows another’s head open. Terra John nearly slices Dave’s throat, but Ascii zaps him into space, suffocating him fairly quickly.

“Think I’m getting the hang of this!” John shouts as he shoots yet another drone.

“My question is, do they ever stop?” David wonders aloud.

“Still a couple hundred to go, boys!” Ascii shouts.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake!” John shouts, slightly exasperated.

“Come on, alt-brother! You’ll be fine!” Ascii says as she telekinetically slams Terra Rose into a wall and breaks her spine.

“This is wearing on my nerves slightly!” John shouts.

“You’ll get used to it.” Dave says as he decapitates yet another drone.

**2099**

Shade is 16. It’s been three years since the closing of T̵͚͚̏ḩ̴̖̑̽ḙ̶̢͌ ̶͖̿Ļ̸̫͒͝è̵̘̄ä̶͎́̆k̶̡̬͂̾, K-R-Terra’s UK Invasion, and Operation Nemesis. He’s playing his guitar. Technically, it’s his dad’s guitar, but he lets Shade use it. He’s playing some rock song when Forrester walks up and slouches next to him.

“Hey man.” Forrester says.

“Hey dude.” Shade responds, a bit too immersed in the song to play proper attention.

“I see you’re playing guitar.” Forrester observes.

“Yeah, I like it.” Shade says. “I picked it up from dad. He likes music, I like music…”

“You could start a band with Shackle.” Forrester suggests.

“Yeah, if he would even agree to me playing over him.” Shade says. “He’s not really a ‘play together’ kind of person when it comes to music. He’s a bit of a loner there.”

“Question;” Forrester says. He’s asked Shade this question before, years ago, but he doubts Shade fully remembers at this time.

“Yes?” Shade says.

“Have you ever wondered what’s below this house?” Forrester asks.

“What, besides dirt?” Shade asks. Forrester snickers.

“Besides that.” Forrester says.

“Well of course, there’s Cain and Abel in defense systems and K with all of his doors.” Shade says. “Simple.”

“You ever wonder what they’re defending?” Forrester asks.

“Besides the house?” Shade wonders.

“There’s another room beneath this building.” Forrester says. “Beneath even the basement. I don’t exactly know what it is, but… we could check it out.”

“I…” Shade trails off, sighing. “Dad won’t be happy.”

“Who cares what he thinks?” Forrester asks. “It’ll be fun. Maybe.”

“Forrester, I…” Shade pauses. “Maybe next year. Alright, man?” he asks.

“Sure.” Forrester says.

“You are such an enabler.” Shade says.

“You bet.” Forrester says.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Leak sucks!  
> Moreno is not mentally stable.  
> What's below the house? Ooh!


	9. Nine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A list of worlds in Yggdrasil.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the full outline of universes.

**Excerpts from “Yggdrasil” by John Harley**

Yggdrasil. The World Tree. A couple of years ago, The Administrator decided to stop as many threats to the rest of the Multiverse as he could. He created Yggdrasil as a massive containment zone, a battleground centered around the core worlds. He brought worlds with threats, places that could provide valid testing zones for all sorts of things, and be battlefields if absolutely necessary. I would not like to say that he bit off more than he could chew, but… he most definitely did. The following list is a documentation of every world in Yggdrasil.

**Beyond the Tree**

Omega-001 

A world touched by darkness, and it is home to untold horrors. Eldritch beings not even Lovecraft could think up drift in the space between planets, of which there appear to be exactly 115, all orbiting a single supermassive black hole that gives off as much light as it takes. It is paradoxical in nature, as the star in the center of it that is meant to be collapsed is not. The result is wholly indescribable.

**The Base of the Tree**

Universe “One” 

Beneath the roots of Yggdrasil. The source of all information. Every story ever created in this universe remodels one of the many universes that have reached the end of their story.

Universe “Two” 

In the roots of Yggdrasil. A technological mish-mash world of sorts containing two kingdoms that fight for fairly pointless reasons.

Universe “Three” 

In the base of Yggdrasil. A now dead world home to a single dark entity.

**The Center of the Tree**

Universe “Four” 

In the very heart of Yggdrasil. Has Beforus instead of Alternia like most worlds. Now defends worlds that can’t defend themselves.

Universe “Five” 

Just below the branches of Yggdrasil. Composed entirely of various Homestuck-related timelines, including various divergences.

Bravo-Whiskey-34 

At the intersection of the branches of Yggdrasil. Composed entirely of pocket universes involving trolls on Earth or Humanstuck scenarios.

**The First Branch**

K-R-Caelum 

The world taken by the entity known as Storm. Earth and Alternia are his puppets.

Sierra-Nevada-32 

Home to the Solomon Project.

XX-Beta-12 

A now dead world, destroyed by its own gods and host to something else.

Phi-07 

Three worlds that got stuck together and turned everyone except for a handful of humans into flesh monsters.

Lambda-670-189 

Everyone who played SBURB woke up as a human on Earth in 2009. Apparently it ended up taking some of them a good decade and a half for them to find their SOs.

Echo-76 

A world similar to Universe “One” with a Homestuck universe on top of it. Soon to be leaking into the regular world, disrupting the status quo.

Upsilon-98 

A post-SBURB world where, as the universe died, the 21 survivors slowly died of time. Currently in an infinite time loop courtesy of universal programming.

Psi-804 

A very pleasant Humanstuck world involving 21 very rich people in their teens having finished high school knocking everything off their bucket lists.

X-Ray-Mike-42 

A _Person of Interest_ world with little divergences. Also contains alternate _Person of Interest_ worlds, as well as several _Orphan Black_ and _Fringe_ alternate worlds.

Xi-63 

Another _Person of Interest_ world with a completely restructured world.

**The Second Branch**

K-R-Ignis 

The world taken by the entity known as Blaze. Earth and Alternia are his puppets.

Omicron-8 

A vast library containing every story in it. A mass database.

Tau-5 

An SCP world. Purges SCP objects every 10 years to prevent overflow. All objects purged or unwritten by the end of 2020 courtesy of the Administrator.

Victor-10 

A world where everyone can go to dream. Connects to Sigma-19 somehow.

Sigma-19 

Prospit is Heaven, Derse is Hell, Skaia is the Earth stand-in. Connects to Victor-10 somehow.

India-Quebec-396 

A world with seven hells on moons and one heaven, which you can only enter after you pass through the hells and cleanse your sins. It is a purgatory of sorts, especially given that each of the hells correspond to a sin. The only way into Heaven is a special archway.

Oscar-Foxtrot-89 

A D&D world that is basically the exact same as the game itself. There are adventurers everywhere, and the world keeps nearly ending every other month or so. It’s fairly crazy, but also surprisingly pleasant.

Kilo-991 

18 SBURB sessions of varying size interact with one another and are influenced by lords and muses in dead sessions. Replay Value world, mashing various session players together and killing more each time until only a handful may emerge on top. Has yet to end.

Zulu-58: 

Has 9000 levels of hell, but they decided to move away from the torment image and become nicer. Unfortunately, a rebellious sect of giant lizard riders killed the whole Earth for no reason. We hired their leader, Henrik Johannsen. He works for us now.

Alpha-Charlie-6 

An MTG world. Little is changed except for the fact that Infinity Stones exist.

**The Third Branch**

K-R-Terra 

The world taken by the entity known as Stone. Earth and Alternia are her puppets.

November-55 

A standard Earth somewhere in the year 2100 with extremely advanced technology. Was at war with Alternia for a while but both sides were forced to unite when robotic forces from their neighboring world came to try and convert them.

Romeo-Uniform-November-R-4-K 

A world that was taken over by robots who then spread through the galaxy. They are not an evil AI in the traditional sense, they always try and help, and always fail miserably.

Golf-213 

A post-Meat Epilogue world where Terezi went with the crew chasing down Dirk. However, it will soon become the frontlines of the war against the Mechanical Singularity, most likely shredding the planet of Deltritus. Foretold to be the battlefield for Ragnarok.

Romeo-Mu-273 

A world where Alternia easily took over Earth.

Delta-109 

A world where most of the remaining population of Alternia is confined to Europe. Some of them try to get to America, where they can be free, but the cost is high. Apparently, if it ever got a story, it would be scored by songs by the singer EDEN.

Papa-502 

This world contains most of the homestuck-related crossover stories.

456-098 

Essentially George Orwell’s _1984_.

Yankee-12 

A _Pacific Rim_ world where Alternia is under siege by kaiju and trolls with ‘hatch clones’ are called upon to pilot jaegers. Earth is there too, but not as much.

Zeta-Eta-Theta-62 

A world involving the Long Earth from the _Long Earth_ saga. However, it is combined with the world of _Homestuck_.

**The Fourth Branch**

K-R-Glacies 

The world taken by the entity known as Snow. Earth and Alternia are her puppets.

Epsilon-99 

A world where, post Homestuck, the people involved begin to essentially act out _Interstellar_.

Pi-3 

A space age Humanstuck world. It’s spot is currently empty, as it has been moved into Endstück for currently indeterminate reasons.

Rho-987 

Essentially _The Expanse_.

Lima-Juliett-H75 

The _Alien_ -verse with Homestuck characters. Possibly a collection of pocket universes allowing for the same characters to appear despite different films.

Kappa-44 

A world where trolls ended up on Earth and, a few decades later, the world was frozen in an attempt to reverse climate change that backfired spectacularly. The result is a _Snowpiercer_ world where the trolls live in poverty at the back of the train and the humans run everything.

Tango-77 

A world in which; Alternia is engulfed in a civil war, humans have equal space tech to them, and a lone Alternian outpost on a Hoth-esque planet finds that the human station next door has gone silent… excluding the drama, it’s _The Thing_ in space, with trolls instead of humans.

Chi-117 

This Humanstuck world was incinerated long ago by the heat of a thousand nuclear bombs. The result is not _Fallout_ , but instead a crippled cast of characters trapped in a bunker beneath the shelled earth, slowly dying of radiation poisoning and losing their minds. Fun.

Gamma-Hotel-Foxtrot-4 

A Humanstuck zombie apocalypse world, nicknamed “John of the Dead”.

Nu-14 

Sometime in the 1800s, a bubonic plague killed everyone everywhere except for in London. It then merged with something else, and the result was the Hybrids. That’s why we call them that.

**The Top of the Tree**

Endstück 

Tucked away in the leaves of Yggdrasil. A world that I believe has something to do with Alternia evacuating to Earth because of the Hybrids. I don’t really know, because nearly every piece of information on this world has been redacted or classified for the Zodiac Counsel’s eyes only.

Alpha-Charlie-7 

A Garden of Eden-esque world. Only certain people are allowed to enter, and it is guarded by Uriel, a massive angelic entity. It is where we defeated a group of entities known as Tyranny.

Homestuck 

The original.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CORRESPONDING STORIES:  
> Universe Four: Act IV  
> Universe Five: Act I, Act II, Act III, Act V  
> Sierra-Nevada-32: The Solomon Project  
> XX-Beta-12: XX-Beta-12  
> Echo-76: Fiction to Reality  
> Upsilon-98: The Inevitable End of All But Me  
> Golf-213: Golf-213  
> Endstück: Endstück
> 
> FUN FACTS:  
> Phi-07 is a restructuring of an old Undertale AU idea I had where three universes got lumped together and turned everyone into meat monsters except for Chara, who had never been to the underground. Gaster ended up there because of being tossed out of his own world and into this one, and the two of them chatted for a while.  
> Lambda-670-189 is a reference/an homage to the fanfiction _Here comes the first step_ by bugbee (Because I like it), although the universe itself that results is quite different all in all.  
> Oscar-Foxtrot-89 is there because I'm a D&D fan.  
> Kilo-991 originally wasn't a replay value AU but then I realized I wanted one and I needed to chop down the player size from 144 or so to something much smaller as time went on, so, voila. Replay Value.  
> Zulu-58 is a reference to _Worth the Candle_ by Alexander Wales, although I made mine much nicer.  
> Alpha-Charlie-6 is a reference to my first ever fanfiction, where antagonist Nicol Bolas got his hands on Infinity Stones Thanos style and tried to end the world. It goes better for him there, and I might write it out properly some day to fill in some backstory for the overall narrative, even if it's not particularly important.  
> November-55. If you've ever seen that SFM Wrench in the Gears by Michael Donvius (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XsZUfOREdJs), that is basically what this world being a Mechanical Singularity target was inspired by. The SFM is good, and it is one of my favourites. Watch it.  
> Golf-213. This planet sucks. It will get worse and worse and worse, as you will eventually see.  
> Delta-109's EDEN bit (EDEN is a good singer, listen to his stuff) was inspired by some of the lyrics to his song Wake Up (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YthChN1Wq8M) and a story grew from there.  
> 456-098 is 1984. It sucks. A lot.  
> Yankee-12 is a reference to _Common Ground_ by celynBrum. I have always liked Pacific Rim, so I knew some alternate version of it was going to go somewhere.  
> Zeta-Eta-Theta-62 is a _Long Earth_ homage like it says. This one's for you, StepperOfTheLongEarth. I think.  
> Epsilon-99 is another one of my fanfictions, _Interstellarstuck_.  
> Pi-3 is important in Endstück. Ish.  
> Rho-987 is an _Expanse_ reference because _the Expanse_ is good. Enough said.  
> Tango-77 was an old fanfiction idea that I scrapped, but it's going in here.  
> Homestuck. That's the real one, baby. Wooha!


	10. Ten

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The final fights.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Leak gets crazy here, fellas!

**2096, September 14**

**_T̵͚͚̏ḩ̴̖̑̽ḙ̶̢͌ ̶͖̿Ļ̸̫͒͝è̵̘̄ä̶͎́̆k̶̡̬͂̾_ **

Jade, Gardener, and Goodwin run through the fracturing landscape, so close to the coursing dark mass, a strange whirlpool of black. It almost looks like a black hole, if you were to make it spinning with light.

“That’s it.” Jade says. “Almost out of this, boys.”

“Wait a minute, where’s Robertson?” Goodwin asks. He’s not with them.

“Shit, where’d he go?” Gardener asks.

“He must have ceased to exist.” Jade says. “Those tendrils must have damaged him worse than he knew, and with the Chrono-Cure he may have survived if he had left. But because he stayed…” the ramifications of the statement hang in the air.

“Fuck, let’s just go.” Goodwin says. “Get this over with.”

* * *

Gamzee, Jay, Roxy, Jake, Moreno, Anderson, Moore, Andrews, and Lowe run through the woods, although Lowe lags behind the group a little. Andrews is helping him, but the group in general is slowing down, and it only gets worse when Lowe stumbles and falls. He tries to stand, but fails to get up, slipping to the ground once more.

“What the hell’s going on?” Moreno asks.

“Lowe’s hurt!” Andrews says as he tries to get his friend back on his feet.

“We’re not far now, but he’s still slowing us down.” Moreno says.

“So what are you suggesting?” Andrews asks.

“Leave him.” Moreno says.

“What the fuck?” Anderson asks. “We’re not leaving him.”

“Look at him.” Moreno says. “Whatever’s got Lowe, it…” he pauses, tenses. “Shit.” he mutters, drawing a pistol from his side holster and taking aim at Lowe. Andrews, still crouching down, gets in front of his friend.

“Woah!” Jake shouts.

“Moreno, what the hell?” Roxy asks.

“Look at his eyes, look at his fucking veins.” Moreno says. “He’s got Bloodburn, standard procedure is termination.”

“We’re not killing him!” Anderson shouts.

“Andrews, get the fuck away from him before he-!” Moreno starts to say, but is cut off by Andrews’ grunt/yelp when he gets shanked in the throat by Lowe’s pocket knife, forcing Moreno to fire and blow Lowe’s skull open. An uneasy silence settles. A moment later, they hear the crazed shouting of Terra drones on the hunt, hear the trees shaking.

“You should have let me shoot him, Andrews.” Moreno says, tsking. “You might still be alive.”

“What the hell is your problem, Moreno?” Anderson asks.

“What do you mean?” Moreno asks in response.

“Ever since New Years, ever since we worked for UMF, you’ve lost it.” Anderson says. “All anger and ego and heartlessness. Why?”

“I…” Moreno pauses. “None of your business.”

“We’ve got no time for squabbling, we’ve gotta-” Jay says, cutting herself off for a moment before continuing “Move. They’re coming.”

They soon reach the farmhouse and the barn there, along with all the barn’s weapons, the handguns, rifles, shotguns, machine guns, sniper rifles, assault rifles, SMGs, grenade launchers, a pair of RPGs, a 50. caliber, and a sea mine.

“That’s a lot of guns.” Anderson comments.

Inside, they find Sollux Captor dead on the ground and Terra Sollux raiding his fridge.

“What?” the drone asks. “What are you all looking at?”

Moreno fires a single bullet and puts a hole in the drone’s head. Soon after that, the group pulls a few rifles from the barn and they prepare themselves for the imminent assault.

* * *

**_T̵͚͚̏ḩ̴̖̑̽ḙ̶̢͌ ̶͖̿Ļ̸̫͒͝è̵̘̄ä̶͎́̆k̶̡̬͂̾_ **

They find a building of sorts without a roof blocking their way to the Source. Opening the door, they can see the dark shape at the end of the semi-lit giant room. The room is also filled with a good dozen or so glitched Leaked people. Their words break every time they speak, coming out only as ▒▒▒▒▒▒. The two Epsilon-11 soldiers raise their guns and open fire, shredding the broken bodies and ultimately killing them. As they step into the room, they hear the voice that seems to come from within their heads and yet also sounds like it doesn’t exist at all;

T̵̼̫̱̞̀̈́͊h̴͖͂̈́̈́̃ë̴͖̫̦́y̸͕͉̹͂͑̈́͆ ̴̛͇̏̄̉C̴̤̾̇̉̽o̴͉̳̥̤̠̐ ̵̫̗̥̹̎̈́̚m̸̦̀̃͛ȅ̴̞̬͐͆̕̕

̴̱̋̆̓͘ ̶̭̪̦̐ ̶͔̟̩̈́̊ ̴̤̳̿̈́̕ ̷̙́̍ ̵̰̯̣͇͎̾̃͝͠͝ ̴̧̭̬͍̈́ ̵͇̩̎ ̶̡̯͙̜̝͗͝ ̸̗̝̯̖͓͐̌̏͘̚ ̴̭̻̥̳͛͌̒̑ ̸̖̱̬̅͌͛̎ ̶̱͙̻̅͜ ̵̧͔̬͈̈́̇͜ ̸̤͇͇̹́̂ ̶͈̳͈̱̄̕ ̴̬͎̭͇̕ ̷̮͒̒̈͠ ̴̤͎̭͆̏̄̑ ̸̡̟͍̓̏B̵͇͕̤͓͙̾̈́ạ̸̢̙͆̆̍͜͜c̸͖̅͑͗̚k̸͕̱̪̑͜ͅ

“What the hell was that?” Goodwin wonders.

“I think that was-” Jade starts to say and is cut off by Gardener screaming. They both turn and see him stumbling back, clutching a shoulder wound.

The thing that stabbed him is a dangerously warped W̵͔͝a̸̡̡̫͆͌̈t̴̤͌̆k̷̮̳̜̿̾͜i̵̼͇̗͐̿̿͒n̶̲͇̆̋̃̕s̶͙̺͂̊, which says something along the lines of ▓▓▓▓▓▓. Its left hand is instead a sword. It charges Gardener, and he blocks its attack with his gun. Jade raises the Chrono-Cure when she sees a warped Ë̶̮̠́d̴̼̦̩̍͘ͅw̵̛̯͈̖̆̐̚ằ̵̤̞͎̞̓r̴͈̐̓d̸̫͕̖̫̓͂̾̃s̶̡̻̯̿ going after Goodwin, grabbing him by the arm and dragging him back towards the black mass. Once again, the same voice that is hard to tell where it comes from or whether it's real, speaks.

T̵̖̯̑͛h̷̜̤̾̂e̷̜̱͒̆y̸̥̯͗

̶̤̙͆Å̷̫͕ ̸̗͐l̵͓̫̓͝w̵̟̲͛̾a̶͈̥̐y̵̧̖͋̃s̸̢̎

̶̨̪̃

̸̝̰͂ ̸̧̛͓̀ ̸̨͛ͅ ̵̬̂ ̸̭͐͒ ̷̹͔͑ ̴̼̿ͅ ̶͕͝ ̸̱͚̄̐ ̵̝͙̌͝ ̷͓͊C̸̩̰̈́̕o̴̬͇̐m̶̪͓͛ȅ̴͔̝

̵͓̌ ̵̪̓ ̸̅͜ ̸͖͂͂ ̴̜̒̀ ̴̙̕ ̸̭͍̑ ̶̜͎ ̵̩͒ ̵̠͉̀ ̴̰̗̉ ̸̪̹̓ ̴̩͔̀

̵̘̔ ̷̖̏͐ ̴̥̂̊ ̶̮͛̽ ̴̮̈́ ̵̺̉ ̶̱̀ ̷̹̎̆ͅ ̶̻͉̿̅ ̶̧̳̈́ ̶̥̐̕ ̴̰͍̑͒ ̶̨̉ ̶̙̌ ̵̢̽ ̷͓̌̉ ̵͓͑ ̸̠͎̓ ̷͇̦̈́̍ ̵̢͆ ̶̜̜͑ ̵̼̉ ̴͓̄̅ ̵̡̨̂̔ ̴͖́͜ ̷̲͎͝ ̶̝̲͑̄ ̴̺͚̂̽B̸̪̑͌a̸̻̽ ̵̨̭̌̌ĉ̵̢͑k̴̢̘̎

* * *

Cold-Eye, Karkat, K-7, Terezi, and Serket run through the xenomorph hive. Karkat gets jumped by a xenomorph drone from above and gets a chunk bitten out of the side of neck. Cold-Eye shoots it and blows it up, accidentally covering him in acid blood. However, he’s practically already dead by now and if anything it gives him a quicker death. The other four of them continue onwards to the queen’s room. It’s full of eggs and the massive queen is at the end of the room, attached to an egg sack. She sees them and hisses, inciting Serket to pull out the small device in his pocket, the UH-K713 “Bloodburster” Device.

“This is the device?” Serket asks in confusion as Cold-Eye, Terezi, and K-7 shoot at the encroaching xenomorph drones.

“Yes, it is, didn’t you already know that?” Cold-Eye asks.

“I know, but still…” Serket trails off.

“Just throw the fucking thing boyo!” Cold-Eye shouts. “Well, don’t throw it, but…!”

“Rezi, with me!” Serket shouts, and he and Terezi dodge between the xenomorph eggs as they unfurl one by one. One of the facehuggers jumps at the troll and she reflexively shoots it and ends up getting acid blood all over her chest, killing her fairly quickly. Serket manages to dodge past the eggs and reaches the queen’s egg sack, holding up the spherical object as a thin rod sticks out of it and he jams it into the brown flesh of the egg sack. For a few moments, nothing happens. Then the queen screams a scream of pain and horror, and goes limp. The facehuggers stop dead in their tracks, and all of the drones outside of the chamber drop to the ground, dead, one by one.

“How about that.” K-7 says. “It actually worked.”

All across Europe, every single xenomorph dies one by one.

About 10 minutes later, they dissolve into water and evaporate into the sky.

* * *

**_T̵͚͚̏ḩ̴̖̑̽ḙ̶̢͌ ̶͖̿Ļ̸̫͒͝è̵̘̄ä̶͎́̆k̶̡̬͂̾_ **

At the end of the room, Goodwin manages to get the upper hand over Ë̶̮̠́d̴̼̦̩̍͘ͅw̵̛̯͈̖̆̐̚ằ̵̤̞͎̞̓r̴͈̐̓d̸̫͕̖̫̓͂̾̃s̶̡̻̯̿ and shoves him into the black mass. The only thing it gets out before it is unwritten is ▓▓▓▓▓▓. Goodwin’s hand clips into the darkness, and he draws it out to see it slowly breaking apart into polygons. Jade watches in horror as his arm, and then his whole body begins to unravel.

“J▒de?” he asks. “Wh▒t’▒ ▒ap▒▒ni▒g t▒ m▒?”

She raises the Chrono-Cure and flips it to the yellow knob, firing a golden beam towards him. When it hits him, he starts to reconstruct, but a half-second later his whole body glitches and shatters into caramelized electricity which is sucked into the darkness, his scream fading into silence. The yellow light hits the black hole-esque object, causing it to increase its pull. Nearby, W̵͔͝a̸̡̡̫͆͌̈t̴̤͌̆k̷̮̳̜̿̾͜i̵̼͇̗͐̿̿͒n̶̲͇̆̋̃̕s̶͙̺͂̊ cuts Gardener’s throat and he drops to the ground. W̵͔͝a̸̡̡̫͆͌̈t̴̤͌̆k̷̮̳̜̿̾͜i̵̼͇̗͐̿̿͒n̶̲͇̆̋̃̕s̶͙̺͂̊ turns to Jade and says something along the lines of ▓▓▓▓▓▓, both of them doing their best to resist the gravitational pull of the black hole.

* * *

The house has been barricaded, and weapons are set up everywhere. Jane sits down next to Gamzee and shifts next to him.

“So you lost your family to Ignis, your brother to Glacies, and your life to Caelum.” Jane says.

“Yeah. You know that.” Gamzee says. “You were there for the last one.”

“Yeah. That sucked.” Jane says. “What’s it feel like?” she asks. “Dying?”

“Why do you ask?” Gamzee wonders.

“I dunno.” Jane says. “Just in case we don’t make it.”

“It hurt, I can tell you that.” Gamzee says. “But for me, it… I dunno, I just…” he hesitates, but continues. “I wondered what I was leaving behind. Thinking about you I guess. I wasn’t thinking about what would happen to me, I was just thinking about who I would hurt when I died. Hmm.” he scoffs to himself. “It’s lonely, I can tell you that.”

Jane takes his hand and leans her head on his shoulder.

“Here they come!” Jake says, rousing the two of them to stand and ready their rifles. The Terra drones are crowded around outside the building, standing around. However, a small attack group of sorts begins crowding around one of the windows and attacking it with their axes, crashing it in and beginning to pile into the living room, which is also where the stairs are.

“Let’s get em.” Moore mutters before the seven of them start firing their rifles at the drones, blowing their heads in one by one.

“That wasn’t so bad.” Jake says.

“Careful Jake, you might jinx us.” Roxy says.

“No, it’s a steady stream.” Jake says.

“Not so steady.” Moreno says. “They’re leaving.”

For some reason, the Terra drones are avoiding that one window for seemingly no reason, simply smiling and staring.

“So, are they going to do anything?” Moore asks.

“They’ve got rules.” Gamzee says. “They’ll attack in waves. That was a taste. They’ll give us a little while, and then they’ll attack again.”

“Oh, that’s good.” Anderson says. “Finally, it goes well.”

Jane slumps down into one of the chairs, muttering something while Moreno goes upstairs to fiddle with the 50. caliber on the second floor. The others keep their eyes on the windows. Jane grimaces for a moment.

“You alright Jane?” Gamzee asks as he sits down next to her in the second chair. “You look a little pale.” Jane sighs.

“I’m fine, Gamz.” Jane says.

“You don’t look alright.” Gamzee says. He pauses, squints. “Jane,” he says. “You’re bleeding.”

“I’m fine.” Jane says. “I was nicked, I’ll be alright.”

“Let me see.” Gamzee says. “Please.”

“I’m a doctor too, I checked.” Jane says. “It’s not that bad.”

“Jane, I know you’re lying.” Gamzee says. “I know you well enough.”

“I…” Jane trails off.  
“Let me see.” Gamzee says, rolling up her sleeve and looking at the wound.

“I’m sorry.” Jane says.

“Oh god.” he whispers.

“I didn’t want to say anything, I knew that you’d be upset.” Jane says.

There is a wound about halfway up her forearm that’s not particularly bad on its own, but what is a problem is the blackness spreading out from the injury, moving through her veins. Looking up at her face, he can see that her pupils are graying.

“No, no, no, no, no…” Gamzee drops his rifle and it clatters on the ground. “Shit, we don’t have the…”

Roxy comes hurrying over, having heard the clatter, and Jake follows her. “Oh, shit.” she says loudly, and soon Anderson and Moore are here too. Moreno hasn’t shown up yet.

“What do we do?” Jake asks.

“Jane.” Gamzee says. “Just hold on, alright? Just… stay with me.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.” Jane says.

“Just stay awake, Jane. Fuck, just…” he gulps. “Stay awake.” they’re both crying now, and he does his best to ignore the tears. “Just hang on.”

Jane closes her eyes and winces, clutching her arm and digging her fingers into it. She starts to jerk a little bit and her whole body relaxes. “No, no, no, no!” Gamzee sobs. “Stop it, stop it, stop it, stop it!” Behind him, Roxy rubs Jake’s shoulder in a comforting gesture as he cries too, his hands over his mouth. “Jane, please don’t go!”

There’s an eerie silence for a moment as no one makes a sound, not even the Terra drones outside the window casually eavesdropping.

Then, everyone hears the sound of a shotgun being cocked.

“Move out of the way.” Moreno says.

“What are you doing…?” Jake asks.

“We’ll have to deal with her.” Moreno says. “She’ll change into one of them. Just. Like. Lowe did. And then we’ll have a real problem. So, move aside.”

“Or else _what_?” Gamzee snarls.

“I’m counting to three.” Moreno says, eerily calmly. As he counts, Gamzee mutters.

“One.”

“You…”

“Two.”

“Mother…”

“Three!”

“ _FUCKER_!”

Gamzee shoots forwards, a blade extending from his bracer and reaching Moreno’s throat, the cold metal pressed right up against it. “Put down the gun or you’re dead!” he shouts.

“Hey, hey, hey, hey-!” Moore gets out and aims his gun at Anderson as she aims at Moreno.

“Derrick, I’ve had enough of you!” Anderson shouts as she presses her rifle against his neck. He flinches at the use of his first name. “You’re a homicidal psychotic sociopathic sadistic megalomaniac, and you _need help_!” she says.

Moreno sighs. “For god’s sake…” he mutters, trying to keep his calm, “Half an hour ago, Lowe killed Andrews, and now _she_ ’s gonna kill the rest of us unless we do something about it. It’s standard procedure. If you can’t fix anyone with bloodburn, you kill them.”

“Well, fuck standard procedure then!” Roxy snarls.

“Put the fucking gun down!” Gamzee shouts.

“For fuck’s…” Moreno sighs, and then explodes into a rage “I’m trying to help!” he shouts. “That’s all I’ve ever tried to do! And now, whenever I so much as _try_ , everybody hates me for it!” surprisingly, he’s starting to tear up too. “A little credit, is that too much to ask for!?”

“Put the gun down, Derrick.” Anderson says firmly. “Put it down.”

“Jan, put yours down.” Moore says, uncertain, still aimed at her. “You’re going against code.”

“I’m not putting my gun down until Derrick puts his down.” Anderson says.

“Then I might just have to shoot you, corporal.” Moore says, cocking his rifle and aiming at her forehead. Jake snarls and draws a small knife, pressing it against the soldier’s throat.

“Just put it down Alex.” Anderson says. “You know it’s the right thing to do.” Moore sniffles and lowers the gun, inciting Jake to pull his knife away.

“Put the gun down, Moreno, or I’ll run you through the throat.” Gamzee says sharply.

“Then why haven’t you already!?” Moreno shout-asks. “Just go ahead and fucking kill me already, huh? Is that too much to ask for as well!?” Anderson flinches.

“Derrick…” she says, more tenderly. “Just put the gun down, yeah?” there’s something about her tone that he seems inclined to listen to.

“I…” he quietly says. “I don’t know if…” she places her hands atop his and slowly lowers the gun for him, before slowly pulling it out of his hands. Gamzee takes a moment, but he retracts the blade back into his bracer and pauses for a moment, before throwing a punch and knocking Moreno to the ground, where the soldier’s tears finally flow.

“Fuck you!” he shouts in a pained voice. “I’ve got nothing left _but_ Epsilon-11! _Nothing_ !” he sniffles. “And then you people had to come and take that away from me too!” he sobs for a moment before continuing. “Caging anomalies was all I knew, and you _fuckers_ had to come and unwrite them. And you know where that left me!? NOWHERE! And you turned me and Epsilon-11 into some… some…” he pauses, thinking of the words, “Nobodies! And now it’s just my team, my 11 friends and I left, and the rest of them are probably dead anyway except for the three of us!” he sobs again, before trying to steady his voice. “You can go ahead and kill me if you want, because I really don’t care anymore.” he sniffles.

Gamzee pays no attention to Moreno as Moore and Anderson tend to him, opting to hold Jane and try and keep her awake along with Jake and Roxy. The relative silence is broken when the front door is broken open, smashed off its hinges as Terra drones start to slash their way past the barricade and inside.

“Oh for fuck’s sake.” Roxy says. “Leave us alone, you fucks.”

“Not again.” Jane moans in annoyance, and Gamzee instinctively snarls.

“Boys and girls, we’ve got incoming.” Jake says as he raises his gun towards the door of their room as the Terra drones move towards it.

“Let’s do this.” Moore says, raising his gun too.

A couple moments later, the door smashes open and all hell breaks loose.

* * *

**_T̵͚͚̏ḩ̴̖̑̽ḙ̶̢͌ ̶͖̿Ļ̸̫͒͝è̵̘̄ä̶͎́̆k̶̡̬͂̾_ **

As Jade switches to the purple beam, the energy begins to spill out the sides and cause a magenta-coloured fog to cover the floor. She angles the beam itself towards the pulsating black hole as she tries not to get sucked forwards. Outside the building she’s in, the generated reality fades and breaks apart until there’s nothing but darkness beyond. Nothing but darkness, this building, and the black hole that is the Source of T̵͚͚̏ḩ̴̖̑̽ḙ̶̢͌ ̶͖̿Ļ̸̫͒͝è̵̘̄ä̶͎́̆k̶̡̬͂̾. The beam of violet light reaches the source, but she has to dodge an attack from W̵͔͝a̸̡̡̫͆͌̈t̴̤͌̆k̷̮̳̜̿̾͜i̵̼͇̗͐̿̿͒n̶̲͇̆̋̃̕s̶͙̺͂̊ that badly damages the metal rig attached to her back, causing it to spark and forcing her to disconnect it as the purple energy whips about in every direction with no particular direction. W̵͔͝a̸̡̡̫͆͌̈t̴̤͌̆k̷̮̳̜̿̾͜i̵̼͇̗͐̿̿͒n̶̲͇̆̋̃̕s̶͙̺͂̊ goes after her again and she blocks his sword-hand with the Chrono-Cure, which gets slashed and knocked from her hands, clattering on the ground. Jade hears something in it smash apart. The purple glow fills the room and everything goes white.

* * *

Nearly everyone in the room fires at least a single bullet, with the exception of Moreno, who simply lurks at the back of the room wallowing in self-pity. Even Jane fires a shot from a rifle, although she misses. Gamzee’s first shot clips the very edge of a drone’s left shoulder. His second hits in the crook of another drone’s right arm. His third hits a drone’s left knee and causes them to collapse to the ground. His fourth shot hits at the same time another shot hits them, causing them to stumble to the side and turn their head so that his shot grazes right through their left eye, taking the whole thing off. The drone hisses and clasps their bleeding face. A second group decides to take the chance and stream in through the broken window, hooking their arms around Moore’s and dragging him to the side and causing him to fire into the air. Gamzee swivels around and fires again at one of Moore’s attackers, punching right through the right side of their neck and flying out behind them to hit another drone in the face, but it’s not enough. The best his next shot does is blow a hole through a drone’s hand, causing them to drop their axe, but it doesn’t stop the mob of them from absolutely _shredding_ Moore into hundreds of bits. That actually gives Moreno pause, and he does lop the jaw off of one of the drones, but resigns himself to getting slaughtered. Surprisingly, they leave him alone. Gamzee helps Jane up as they backpedal alongside Roxy, Jake, and Anderson upstairs. Gamzee fires a shot that blows open the left side of a drone’s forehead, and a second that goes right through a drone’s eye. When they reach the top of the stairs, they find the 50. caliber set up there and Gamzee fires off two more shots, hitting one drone just beneath the sternum and blowing the entire left half of one’s face off with a bullet that grazes their left cheek. After that, Anderson starts unloading the 50. caliber at them, but is careful about it, firing in short bursts every few seconds. It’s not long, however, before they’re about halfway up the stairs, after which she just starts spraying bullets through them with reckless abandon. Even still, the mob still reaches them when they run out of bullets and they end up shoving the now-empty caliber down the stairs, where it crashes through the hordes and resets them back to square one.

“You said to expect UMF forces soon!?” Anderson half-shouts over the sound of gunfire as they whip out their M16s and continue to shoot into the horde.

“They should be here literally any minute now!” Jake shouts. “All they’ve been doing is sitting around and waiting for the go ahead for the Golf-213 Operation!”

In fact, fairly soon after they run out of ammunition for their M16s, they hear the distant sound of gunfire. UMF forces have already arrived.

* * *

**_T̵͚͚̏ḩ̴̖̑̽ḙ̶̢͌ ̶͖̿Ļ̸̫͒͝è̵̘̄ä̶͎́̆k̶̡̬͂̾_ **

With the Scranton in the Chrono-Cure damaged, the environment further degrades. Everything else breaks down, until it’s just the one building floating in the void. Looking around her, Jade notices that everything seems to have dropped in quality, like a youtube video running on flimsy wifi and reduced to 240p. Her movements are jerky too, like a broken stop motion animation running on 30 frames per second. W̵͔͝a̸̡̡̫͆͌̈t̴̤͌̆k̷̮̳̜̿̾͜i̵̼͇̗͐̿̿͒n̶̲͇̆̋̃̕s̶͙̺͂̊ says something along the lines of ▓▓▓▓▓▓ and swings his blade-arm-thing at Jade, who dodges to the side and manages to grab a gun off of the ground and block his next attack before he body slams her onto the ground, sending both of them tumbling towards the source. There’s a flash of white light once again.

* * *

**_T̵͚͚̏ḩ̴̖̑̽ḙ̶̢͌ ̶͖̿Ļ̸̫͒͝è̵̘̄ä̶͎́̆k̶̡̬͂̾_ **

▓̷͙̓▓̸̞̻͔͌▓̶̻͎͝▓̷̤̠͕͐▓̴͇̣͋̓͝▓̸̼̼̕͘͝ ̴̨͖͔̋̋̅s̴͖͑̆͋a̴̖̦̻͂̅y̷͉̎s̸̭̥̤̈́ ̸̱͕͌W̴̪͚͚̉a̶̰̖̒̏ṯ̴̒k̷̛͙i̵̗͊͜n̶͔̋ͅs̴͈͎̟̆̇̒ ̴̯̉͐ȁ̵͎̠͚͒s̶̗̭͇͊ ̶̳̼̏͐ḩ̸͊͝e̶̛̥͇̟͑ ̶̙̇͆p̷̮̈i̸̼̾͊͘ͅn̸̩̦͋s̵͎̝̱͛̆̈́ ̴̣̌͊͝h̸̞̝͒e̸̻̾̇r̵̜͓̙̍͋ ̸̤͊̌̅͜t̵̫̑͛ỏ̸̖̹ ̴̞̝͆̽ẗ̵̳́̕h̵͖̱̙̏ę̵͈̙ ̶̪͎̜̕g̷̱̰͇̃̒ȓ̵̖̇o̸̠̓̀̅ú̸̲̠̈́̊n̷̜̎͂d̴̝̄̋ ̴̨̣̱̋̓ą̴̯̰̓͌͝n̶͚͒͆d̷̛̬̺͇̈͝ ̶̝͗̆̓͜r̵̩͕͌̕͝ả̴̼̞̅i̷̪͕͂͗̉s̶̖̜̍ë̶͙̮̣́͌s̴͕̼̥̀̽͛ ̵̠͝h̶̬͕̿i̶̻͓͙͝s̴̟̩̦͗̿͘ ̷̫̖̈́̉s̸̡̱̤̕w̴̡̲͑̄͠ö̵̡́͌̒r̶̻̭̺̿d̷̞̉-̵̪͈͍̃ȧ̴͕͙͊r̴̺̈́m̶͍̏͌͝ ̴̛̥͇̏ṱ̴̇̈̚o̸͚̤̝̿̆ ̶̭̒t̵̜͈̓͂͝r̶̹͉̎͗͝y̵͕͕̌ ̸̧̲̙̂̆̚ą̴͊̏n̴̫̪̑d̶͇͖́͑ ̶͇̄́͠š̵̢͖̠t̸̯̙͖͌̕a̴͇̬̭͆b̶̥͍̓͗̏ ̴͎͋h̷̦̪͛̒e̸̺̱̾͒̋͜r̴̗̼̂̽,̶͕̬̙̄̚͝ ̵̨̣̙̐͠ą̶̗̏ǹ̷͙ḑ̵͖̄ ̷̗̾͌s̷̬͗h̸͕̼͔́̈͘e̶̫̯̋͘ ̴͈̂ç̴͗͝a̴̙͕̽̉̕t̶̫̉͘̚c̴̗͇̙̄h̷̺̣̱͒͝ě̵͓͉̟̾s̶̨̽̈́͜͝ ̸̜̣̄̓i̷̜̼͆̾t̵̯̝̮̅ ̸̺̺̝̐̐́b̴̭̚e̴͕͔̓̋ţ̶͛̐w̸͖̲̱̕e̷̥͚͑ë̴̠̞́̇͜n̶̰͐̿͂ ̸̻̈̓͝ḧ̷̻̗́ę̶́͗r̸̪̓͆ ̴̝̥̇h̸̞́̾͂a̵̝͛̍n̸̠̞̠̍̍̐d̸̨͆ṣ̸͉̒̋̕.̸̘͍̻̃̄ ̴͖̹̑Ţ̴͓̲̏͐̚h̴̨̠̀̓ë̸̟͕́͠ ̴͖̗̊̚q̶̹͛ṷ̵̫̏͊̈́a̵̺̟̎́ḻ̷̈̈̚ï̵̜͊͘t̵̝̫͒͠y̴̳̩̋̓̆͜ ̸͇͒̈̕o̸̺̐̽̎f̸̨̢͚̓̕ ̴̡̳͆t̷̥̝͐h̷̰͋͘ẻ̵̢͙ ̴̘͎̃͒a̷͕̗̯̽̉̓r̷̨͈̫͆ḛ̴̎͘͠a̶̺̰̻̅ ̴̳̳͓́̈́̑ĥ̶̥͎̊a̷͖̠̽́s̸͈̫͇̅͒ ̷͙̦͙̽d̶̝͓̝͆r̴̩̲͉o̷̲͔̘̽̌̒p̴̲̊͑̾p̴͈̕ẻ̷̢̥̳͋̊d̸̗̄ ̴̬͑s̴͓̽̂i̸̭̩̋̔g̶̛͎̀̎ņ̶͚͙̽̈́͌i̸̟͂͝͝f̷̼̂̓̔i̸͙̩͕͑̉̚c̴̡͙̓̑̀ả̸͇̰͉͐n̸̠̹͂͆̕t̵͖̹̎̕l̶̰̈́̀y̶̪̬̍̎ ̴̦̣̹̆o̸̯̺̿͗n̵̛̩͗̈́c̴̮̩̰͊̏̚e̶̯̯̺̾̌̑ ̷̤͑͐͝m̵̝̪̉̐͝ǒ̸̥r̵͎e̷̹͗,̶̭͝ ̵̧̤̭̋̾͗a̷̰͗n̵̢̲̂̾̃ḏ̷͂̊ ̶̺̋͌̿t̵̡̠̳̾̆͗h̶̥̤͆͂͝ȩ̴̛̺̞̈́r̶̤̂́͠e̴̲͒̈́ ̷̱̣͒͘ỉ̷͙s̴̘͈̱̽̈͝ ̴̝̠͇̾̌n̵͖̓̎o̶͍̓̓ ̶͕͋̄̉m̶͚̮͔̑̽o̶̙͊̀͝r̵̲͕̿̂̉e̴̡̛͔͌ ̵̻͙͂ͅc̶͇͙̎̓͝o̵͙̞͗̈́̌l̶̹͝ō̵͙̯̮u̸͔̠͒͝r̸̜͛̋ ̶͕̎͘ȉ̷̼͋̽n̵͙̿̕ ̶͈͂̒̕ä̸̧͖̥́n̵̰̠̔͝y̸̥͐̑̋t̸̜͋̀͘ͅh̷͇̽̔ȉ̷̻͝ṇ̵̨̺͗̃g̸͈̪̋͠,̸̮̉́̚ ̴̢̨̈́̈́̾j̷̦̀̉ŭ̵̟̥̮̕s̷͖̤͈̿̊̅ṱ̶̯̓͜ ̴̤̥ḃ̴͙l̶̛̮͑̀a̴͍͒̑̕ͅn̵̮̻̤͑̕d̴̝̑͋͘ ̵͚̈́g̸̯̽̓r̶͚̘͈̎͊e̸̡͒̽͂ỳ̶̙̖̉͒s̸̛̚͝ͅ.̷̗͖͑͝ ̴̪̃͑͠E̵̩͔͍͗v̶̝͗̈́̄ę̵͇̎̽̈́ṅ̵͔̦̮ ̴̟̪͙̔̃̒t̷̨̳͖͊h̵̗͈̻͑ë̵̝̤̯́ ̴͍̊̈́b̶̟̗̆l̴͉̺̖̃̄ä̶̛̘͈͜c̶͖͔̎̍̈́k̵̮̞͌ ̸͍͍̎͜ọ̸͎̓ư̴̥̝̻̈́t̴͓̻̦̀ş̶͍͔̐͐̕ĭ̶̱̋̽d̵̩̮͊̇̈́e̵̮̙͂̊ ̷̡̞̝̔̒h̴̯̄̏̅â̴̗͒͘s̸̹̓ ̵̡͑c̴̠͎͝h̴̞̞̏̆a̶̧̼̹͛́n̴͈̜̄̐g̸͍͑ḛ̵̛̳̏͜d̷̨̛̼ ̴̟̦̎̋t̸̯̩̉̕o̴̡̹̼̒̇͛ ̴̳͓̟̃̈́͊g̶̨̩̀r̴̨̗̱̔̆̔e̴̗̣̳̾̄̎ỵ̵̘̇,̷͕̼̅̀̌ ̴͚̜͛͜ḁ̵̧̳̕n̸͉͒͑d̶̢̋̌ ̴͉̯W̵̰͍̔ä̴̞̗̝̌ṭ̷̯̥̓͋k̷̦̘̼̅i̶̺̩͕̾n̵̻̍́s̸̟̼̊́̑’̷͕̓͠͝ ̴̠͇̦̍̊f̵͉͝â̷̯͚c̷͙̬̆̓͛i̴̥̱̮͒̾a̶̛͍̘̎l̸̠̞̆ ̵̤̘̓ͅf̷̟̅͝e̷͊̓ͅą̷̈́ẗ̶̪̑u̶̩̔ṟ̶̻͒̓̒͜ě̵̦̫̓s̶̢̬̩̅ ̶͖̪͐a̶̪̣̍̍̏r̴͉͉̽̈ḙ̷̅ ̵͔̿ḙ̸̢͔̇͊͂v̸̲̗͘e̶͈͂̈́n̵͖̪̑ ̸̙̀h̷̆̆̅ͅȧ̴̛͖͕̰r̷͙̈́̍̈d̷̟͊ͅe̸̤̳͗͠r̷̖̅͒ ̴͖͗t̶̼͗͊̿ö̶͇́̚ ̶̦͗̈́͠r̷̝̳͐͑e̸͚̓͌ä̷̡͈́d̶͓́.̵̨͙͛͝ ̸͇̟̊̿̋J̴̯̥̾̌̊a̸̡̪̩̅̾̾d̶̨̺͎̅ë̶̲̩̭̐͘ ̶̨͖͈̐͂̂ẖ̴̢̜̉́o̸̮͖̪͌͝l̸̫̭̓͌ḑ̷̿́s̶͓͓̽ͅ ̸̙͕̝̓͘h̶̻̖̔i̸̞͑̉̌s̵̬̣͔͊̎ ̴͔͙͂ͅa̴͖̝̍ṙ̷̨̝͛̑m̴͎͓̲̃̿̐ ̶̟̗̎b̸͙͙̑a̸̡̐̉̌c̸̛̳̠k̸̦̽̀͊ ̴̫͎̭͒͒̽f̸̲̲͒̎̄ͅo̵̤͇̣̊r̵̭̳͓͘͝͝ ̵͎̂a̸̖̽͜ ̴̢̭̃ṁ̸̥̆͂o̶̤̍̈́̋m̵̙̫̅̔̚e̵̡͔̓n̶̤͂t̴͚̫̻͌ ̶̠̥̉̊b̴̖̆̈ȇ̵̻͋̌ͅf̸̲̯̓̇o̸͕̿r̶͈̗̮̈ĕ̵͈ ̸̝͕̊ẁ̴̡̞̣̽͘h̸͍̿i̸͈̩̦͝ẗ̵̹́̐͠ē̸̪ ̷̲̥͂̄̀l̶̻̤̗̎͋̐i̵͉̱̬̐g̷̙͇͑̓̔ḣ̸͚͔t̴̥͊̎ ̶̛̗͎̈͌f̶͙̋̓l̸̙̗̺̂͘a̵̧̬̎͆͜ŝ̴͚̦͐͜h̵̗̄͜e̴͇̻͗s̷̬̮͌ ̴͈̠͆̆͝a̵̯̬͋͂n̶̡͍͂͆̚d̵͚̐̍̄ ̸̧̙̿̿̑ê̷̲͝ṿ̷̥̄̊e̴̻̽r̴̯̭͗̀̔y̴̦̐̐t̸͙̔̕ḫ̴̀̎͝į̸̤͓̚͝͝n̶̝͐ġ̵̥̭ ̸̳̮̑̈c̶͕̅͑h̴̗̃ǎ̸̘̖̞n̶͙̺̗̿g̸̳͑͂͆e̶̺͂s̶̬̈̈́ ̸̭̥̓͘ä̸̜̖́g̴̮̰̿̈́a̷̛̙̒i̴̺̞͛̿̐ň̸̫͠.̷͈̪̂͑̕

* * *

**_T̵͚͚̏ḩ̴̖̑̽ḙ̶̢͌ ̶͖̿Ļ̸̫͒͝è̵̘̄ä̶͎́̆k̶̡̬͂̾_ **

Ê̷̠̰͗̌͐̊̚v̷͎̦͍̺̄͐́̌͌͘ẹ̷̲̒̂͑r̶̟̠̃̋y̶̛̯̘ṯ̸̈͆͑h̵͔͔̾̑̾̈i̴̲͓̯̍͑n̵̩͛̌̾̔͘͠g̸̢̖͖͔̾̿͋̀̓ ̸̻̹̟͔̣͌̓̐̈ͅg̸̯͖̲̳̐͒́̓͠o̷̡̹̼̰̺͈͛e̴͙̬̩͇͓̟̓s̴̡̰̼̹̥͊͒̍̒͠͝ ̴̡͖̫̝̩͕̐̑b̸̭͎̎͌̿̇͜l̷̗͓̥̋ͅa̸͓̳̦̪̓̃̚c̵̢̯͊̂k̸͚͙͇͛ ̵͖̟̱͖̫̉̆à̸̩̬̫̠̬̿̕͜n̸͉̺̩͕͌̑d̵͎͓̘͠ ̴̲̰̠̭̝̉͌̈w̵̢͎̓̿͝h̵͎͈̎̏i̵̹͛̑̎̏͘͜͝ț̵̝͉̄̓̍͘͜ͅe̸͕̓͛̾͜͝ ̵̬̥̉̽̆̆̕͝a̷̭̮͕͆ń̷̯̻̘̊̏̓̉̕͜d̸̬͑ ̵̧̜̯̾͑͐̏͐͝ḿ̶̼̏̈́̏̽o̷͍̦̯͖͛̓̈́͠ͅv̸̲̗̞̳̟̦̽ę̴̛̤͛̊̽͆̂s̶̗͚͖̻̯̾̊̍̋̆̀ ̶̧̡̼͚͕̯̒̇̾̕͝͝l̸̦̺̝͎i̸͎͖͒͌̂̐̇̆ͅk̵̢̹̉̌͛̌e̴͖̠͉̟͆̒̆̑̂͝ ̴̮a̷̼̎̃̍̔̎̏ ̸̨̨̝̲̗͈̑͊͋͊f̷̮̈́̋̿̎̌̑l̸̠̤̻͌̽̌͜͝i̵̡͍̖͙͓̳͌p̵̢͖̏̀͌b̷̧̜̐̂͆͘͝ỏ̷̦̤̥̌͘͜o̶̝̠͉̭͇̐͋̍ḵ̴̡͈͋̏̓̿͆ ̶̡̮̆ǎ̶̱̭̼̬̒̉͒̏̕͜n̸͙̄̏̉̉į̶̝̦̀͆̋͂m̷̞̞͋͛̍̓a̷̢̧̢̫̙̞͗̈́͑̌͒ť̸̨̛̮̹̩̲̐͐̍į̷͉̹̝̌̌̒̈́͝͝ö̸͓̫͖͓̗̝̃̅n̶̻͑͗́̿̃,̴̗̝̘̹͑͠͠ ̴̣̝̰͍̄̏̎͒͋͘j̶̡͉̫̝̯̽̀e̷̢̦͍̤̖͗̊͋̂̈́ͅṟ̷͖̾͗͛͌̏ǩ̴͔̳̙͕̊̉̐̅̎ỵ̷̛̭̠̲̋̀̿ͅ ̷͙̐̽y̴̜̏̍͜e̵̖̜̩͝ͅt̶̡̟̦̽͂ ̵̧͍͒͐̈̊̏s̵͓̃͜m̷̨̢̺͉̃͆͝ͅǒ̴̧͓̲͈͖̰̃̐̍o̴͍̕t̵̺͕̟͔͒͑̊͌h̷̻̓͌͌̐̕͝.̷̘͍̩͝ͅ ̶͍͈̥̞̎̃͊͠Ţ̵̭̩̤̯̀̓̿ḧ̶̨e̴̗̩̱̫̼̼̓ ̶͎̩̟̻͒f̶̡̛̣̮̫͚̽̒̊̎ă̷͓͈̯͔̔c̷̹̮͓̈͋̊̚e̵̠̱̙̮̿̂͘l̴̝̝̲̘͉̏̈́̓̂̂̿͜ẹ̷̳̻͙̆s̸̭̗̞̤̀͗́̅̈́̕s̷͉͙͆̂̈́̿̾ ̸̢͇̮̗̰͍̈́̿W̷̧̜̳̰̣̐̔a̵̭̪͙̯͒̍̆t̶̞̱̏̾͗k̵͎͇̾͒̌͂̒̉i̵̠̔͗̚͝ṉ̶̖̂̓̑s̷̡̟̎̄’̵̗̠̺̀ ̷͔͌s̵̡̬̭̣̖̹̄͐̋͛͘w̴̛͇͛͘õ̶̜̭̳̫͈͝r̶̛̗̞̊̾̓̑̚d̶̡̛͔͐̄͒͝͝-̴̲̈́̊a̴̰̪͇̳̥͊̈́̀̆͆͛ř̵̜̰͍m̴̛̺̭̝̋̂̚ ̴̡̡̊̈j̴̨̭̐̇̅̈́̕a̷̦̙͙̭̼̓̇͘̕m̸̩̜͈̠̈́͗͐ș̴̖͔͝ ̷̙̫̱̖̕͠i̷̙̗̠͑n̸̝̈́̚͝͝t̴̢̥͔͓̮̐̒͒̔̀̅ö̴̟̯̞͛̈̃̋ ̶̛͖̟͠ţ̸͇̱͓̰̙̓̐̂̾̕h̷̛̫̻̯̩̄͊̂̂̊e̸̬̥̘͔͋͜ ̶̡̦͔͇̟̗g̶̤̖̗̈́̓͊ͅȓ̷̥͚̣͙͇͊̈o̷̠͖̐̃̎͘u̷̺̦̱͐͜ͅņ̵̝̠̺̯̅̚͜d̸͕̅̃̂͂͛̇ ̵͈̝̝͚̈͐̍͑a̶̟͇̭͉̔̋̑͗̂ņ̸̲̲̔̈̑d̴̛͔̳̓͋̓̋͠ ̶̨̺̈́͛̐͝͝s̵̙͍̤͗͗̔h̷͇͚̟͔̲̱͛̾̋ë̴͍͑̾ ̶̱̘̩̔͜t̵̢̢̛̹̳̅̊̄̕h̷̿̈́̃̕ͅr̷̛̤̪ô̶̥̟̩͉̄̊͝ẉ̴̡̓̋̃s̶̺̺̖͎̈̊ͅ ̵̡͕̒͆h̴̙̅̆̇i̸̲̭͕͕̜̱̇͐̔͠m̶̨̠̻̭͓̮̒̎̓ ̴̭͉͓̩̱̘̊o̷̢͖̦̞̊͆f̷̘͎͙̉̾̊͋f̶̜̖̦͊̒̔̃ ̷̧̹͂̈̈̕ḣ̴̘ͅe̷̘͎͔͑͘r̷̗̰͂̈͠ͅ,̷͈͓͍̰̞̏͘͜ ̸̛̩͈̹̯̎̄̈́͝s̵͕͐̌̅h̵͙̲͓͖̗̾o̸̯͚̮̯̚v̶̺̺̘̓̍̃i̸̘̰̯̋͒͠͝n̵͇ǧ̷̲͉̙̗̘̯̌̂̉̆ ̷̢̛̖̩̫̘͑̓̒h̸̢̪̤̙̓ͅī̷̦͚̜͂͑̿m̶̡͔͍̞̬̬̿͌̆ ̶͔͈͇͐̍̕t̵̢̼̣̦̆̅͌̈͜ȍ̸͎w̵̨̢͛̄̋a̴̯̲̣̝̬͛͊̂͂ṟ̸̨͖͓̤͆̂͘͘d̶̳̦̊̋̈́s̴̮̖̫̫̟̔̅̒̍̚ͅ ̷͖̮͕̬̾͌̄̈̏t̴͈̦̬̥̗̙̋̓͒h̵̡͚̳̗̐͗̋͛͜͠e̵̹͎͝ ̶͔̙̣̲͌̄S̷̩͂͐̚͝o̸̡̟̭̝̜͓̿́̈͊ű̶̘̬̤̗͝r̸̖̖͑̀̚ċ̴̰̬̖͕̑e̴̩̟͊̂́.̵̢̽̑̃́̈́͠ ̴̛̟̰̝̣͓͌͌̽̓̚T̴̳͐́̂̉̎̽ḧ̴̲͚̭̺͕̩͋̕e̵̡̫͉̗͉̠͂̇ ̷̨͕̃̔̕g̴̨̩͉͕̿͌̍̉͊͠r̸̢͖̚ā̶̗̭̳͒v̴̛̝̱̦̲͈͔͋̑į̴̮̬̯̻̐͌̏͐ẗ̵̩̥͕̋̒͋͝a̴͍̩̞̺̾͛̏͋̓t̸̡̛͍̳̞̲̓̅̈́̓ĭ̷̡̨͍̞̬͜o̶̲͛͛̄̋͌n̵̘̗͕̅̈́̎́̈͘͜ȃ̴͇̒͋l̴͔͗͆ ̸̣̩͈͔̌̒́̑͝f̵̝͔̭̖͉̺͑ơ̵̝̫͍̬͌͗͗ͅr̵̙̼͍͇̰̔̑́̚ͅç̶̦̲̙̥̠͗̈́̂̑ē̷̩͓͈̔̽ ̸͙͎̦͙̔̎̋͠ẗ̴̩̱̬̣́͛͂͒͒͘͜a̴̢̛͌̀́͠k̷͚͇̝͈̳̆͆ę̷̠̪̭̘̪́͋́͑̚s̸̮̆̾͘͝ ̸̞̤͎̲̃̀h̶̭͎̘̋o̵͖̭̍̋͐̓͒l̷͔̯͙̮̥̜͌̂̈́d̵̨̬̽ ̸̱̞̤͍̌a̴̘̹̍͑̄̈̑͝n̴̦͎̬̭̹͉̈́̈́͋̅́͝d̸͈̬̏͗̽̀̋ ̵̰̯̗̲̑̄̈́h̶̢̞̫̗̮̃͗͊͜͝ĕ̵̡̠̠̤̭͈̉̈́ ̵̨͎͍͚̻̩̆ġ̶̭̆ó̸̺̼͚̜͚͎̐̆͝ę̶̭̋s̵͍̠͉͕͔̽́͛̈́͠ ̷͖̙͂̃̃̚͝í̸̦͂ñ̷͚.̶̻̤͕͉̭̰͝ ̸͉̆̈́A̸̦̠͍̤̍͑͛̌́͛t̴̺̭̱̱͖͕͊̃͋̈́͐ ̸̪̫͌̾ṭ̵̫̱̒͜ḥ̷̎̓́̆͝e̷̡̨͇͍̒̾͠ ̶͚̅́̃̌͘͝s̶̪͗̓̚͝a̴͕̅̊̄m̶̨͔͉̰͓̣̑̓e̸̦̳͒͋̑ ̵̰͇̟̾̈́͗ţ̷͂͐̂̿̕i̴͇̞̼̓̄̑̍͘̕͜m̶͈̏̃̓ę̴̧̡̳̞͇͐͑́̊͝ ̵̑͜t̶̡͓̜̣͖͘ĥ̶̛̲͚̟̚ͅa̴̳̰̤͂͘t̸̙̞̔̊̓̍̋͝ ̷̫͇̉̂̋h̶̡̨̙̉͊e̶͔̺̋ ̴̗̙̝̓̕d̷̢̯̼̭͇̗̊̌̆̍͒o̶̡͈͎̘̓͜e̵̡͖̰̬̰͐́ṣ̸̢̫̼͖̿̅,̴̧̟̪͕͗͑ ̸̛͍͘s̶͙̟͙̲͚̿̋͊̊ͅḧ̵̤̰́̿̌ę̷̲̞̳̚ ̶͖̗̂̅̀g̶͈͎̬̼̭̳̃͑͗r̷̪̒̆̚̕a̸̢̮̙̝͇̒b̴̫͙̔̿̔s̴̢̠̹̱͇̙̋́̀̅ ̷͕͇̙̼̣̟͒͠t̶̞̗̻̳̉͆̈́̎̓h̴̛̳̩̻̫̻͔͂̍́̃͊ê̸̛̛̗̇̃ͅ ̸͙͚̬̑d̸̥̂̂̒̈a̸̯̳̪̿m̶̼̘͇̉ȁ̴͚̳̳̉ģ̷̭͙͊̿̄͘ę̸͔͖̻̹̀̄ḏ̶̲̝̀͊̏ ̵͕̬͗̎͛̽̏C̵̳̭̊͒͝ḩ̷͕̺͖̟͛̅̀̉ṙ̷͉̥̫ȏ̸͚͙̠͕̪͖̃̆̍̚n̷̖͑̈́̓͊͆o̶̧̡̯͋̋͒̌̈͝-̵̠̞̯̰̐͂̓̏̔̔C̴̘̜̕͝ṷ̷̀̈́ṟ̷̈̍̏è̶̼ ̷̞̯̭͇̰͋̾̓̎ŏ̵̧̧͉͔͓̠ṇ̶̒͌̈́͘̕ ̸̛̜̅t̶̬̣͐͗̾̄̇ḫ̵̛̝̈́̏͂͌͒ę̴̩̫͆ ̶̞̼͚̈́͑͒g̶͍̠̻͔̮̬͗͌r̶̛̠̞̩̋ơ̴͎͑͐͜ǘ̸̩̙͖̽͘͘n̸̡̙̤̞̮͛̓͝d̴̰̪̺̰͍͝ ̵̛̓̒̾́͜ạ̵̇̈́ņ̴͍̻̼͙̤̅͋͆̀̔d̷̹́̏̄̑ ̶͍̰̉̌̃ȟ̵̟̑ů̸̢̡̹̜͎͛̃͊̔̍r̴̻̬̠͈̲̣̍̍̿̒l̸̡̜̘̒̃s̶̩̥̩̜̟̅̅͛͑͌̔ͅ ̸̛͇̒̄̋̆̕i̵̪͓̹̝͗͗t̵̨͇̤͗ ̵̫̗̯̙̓̂͒̉̿͘ǐ̴̢̤̻͔̝̝͛̄͌͠n̸̜̓̏̔̋̈t̶͍̾̈́̽͒͂̓o̵̡̭̗̻͍̾͝ ̸̧̙̙̮͘t̴̡̧̛̫̞͋͊͒͒͛h̵͖͂e̷̜͕̹͕̊ ̶͈͗̂d̷͕̘̎̒ͅą̵͈̣͔͓̼̉̈̇̽͝͝ŗ̷̧̘͙̞̼̍̒̑̊k̴̮̲̦̥̗͝ ̶̨͙̯͕̘̝͌m̶̖̣̖͔̮̉a̶̢̪͖͇̤̰̓̈́͆ş̵̣̻͓̫̗̒̍̌̅̕s̶͍̔̊.̴̪̘̜̍̍͗̊̐̕

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Ẻ̶̮̦͚̘͙̋͛̚͠r̶̢̪̈̔̔̐̌̃̒r̶̛̹͋͝o̷̢̞͐̃͌̀̔̚͝r̶̛̩̘̖͉̱̒̄̉̓

Ę̶̳̹̘̝̈́̇͌͒͜r̷͔̦̦̳̳̤̣͎̿͛͆̾̋̄̚͝ř̶̲̩̻̝̪̖̤̣͈̃̂̃̍͝͠o̶̖͕͙̹̻̞͍̙̿̋̽͌ͅͅr̴̡̆̋͒

E̶̡̤̪̺͉̐͊̈̚͝r̷̬͚̳͚͍̺̹̬͎͌̃̒̉̐͊̾̏̍͒͆̍͒̉̕r̵̨͎͇̟̜̹͐ó̶̢̧̱̥͉̗͖̥̭͇̣̖̯̄̎̔͛͌͛̒͒̉̄̐͆͂̎ͅṛ̴̢̮̖̀̇̂̾͋͊̈́̐͒̈̄̌̔̈́̍̂͜

Ė̵̛̛̳̺̜͕̞͖̩̖͔̲͕̤̙͇͍̥̝̱̤͔̘̻̹̻̾͂̆͐̏̔͐́̽͐̒̿͌̔̄̂̔̽̄̃̉͊̑́͂̈́͐͊͝͝͝͝͝͝ͅͅr̸̡̢̡͚͔̬̭̠̙̦͇̩̦͚̯͔̟͖͇̟̳͚̻̪̦͔̳͎̫̭͍͇͍̳̝̃̐̾͂̌̒̆̾̈́̊̐̐̿̈͐͐̀̽̃̿̏̚͘͘͜͝ȓ̷̛̪͆̾̑̎̓͋̾̌̂̾̐͛̍̓̇̒̅͆̅̐̂̈́͝͝͝͝ǫ̷̨̨̻̰̪̮̙͕̱̻̫̈͐͋̄̕r̵̢̛̛̛̰̝̖̦͕̘̯̠̺̤̰̤̝͕̮̦̲̝͉̭̈́̂͂̀̊̀̎̓͒̂̄̿̅̔͌͑̾͂͋̈̅̾̏̽̓̄̒͛͒͘͜͝͠ͅͅ

E̴̡̛̬̖̲̜̠̮̪̪̭̟͊̾̀̾̈́̐̐͆̄̎́̍͂̌̾́͗̂͒̓͑̐̀̅͌̎̇͂͘̚͘͝͝͝r̶̡̛̺̲̱̜̯̮͉͈̘̩̦̪̰̩̪͕̺̙̙̰̩̖̙̭̤̺̗̯͎̈̿̀̉̊̒̄́̅̀͂̈́̆̋͐͊͛̀̅͒̓̐̈́̌̅̐͋͌̎̏̈̌͊̒̊̎̒͋͆̽̕͘̕͝͝͝͠͠͝r̸̡͖͚̩̲̥̭̘̻̜̹̯̣̜͇͖̫͓̱̥̂̎̎͐̓̈́̎̂̿̆̅̈̾̂̋̐̒̽̽̆͛͛̿͛̅̒̏͐̌͂̄̔̋͐̍̽̈́͘̚ͅǫ̵̡̨̨̢̧̛͙̼̪̬̰̳̳̞̝̬͔̰̻̮͓̳̘̮̦͎̯̦͖̹̖͕͇͖͔̱̤̤̝̠̖̰͚̯͕͇̜̝̪̹̞̤̿́͑̐͛͒̿̐̅̄̄̇͑̈́͆͛̄͋̑̐͂̍͛̃̒̿͆͆̔̒̿̃͆͗̈́̚̚̕̕͘̚͘̕͠͠ͅr̶̛̛̛̛̛̮̟̠̪̤̙͕̣̗̺̲̥̪̰͙͈̹̓̾̃̔̆͂̾̋͑͑̅̐͒̿̽̓̿͑͐̾̀̉͊̓̔̉̀̽̉̊̚̚͘̚̕͘͜͝͝͝

 **_Ť̶̵̷̸̷̷̡̡̨̤̣̮̳̮̥̼͉̥̗͚͎͎̞̩̖͚̦͚͎̏̍̓͒̉̓̽͂̍͑̈́͒͊͑̕̚͜͝͝ḩ̸̴̶̶̷̸̸̧͉̼̰͓̣͉̫̟͚͈͈̘̝̞̭̮̫̖͙͔͈̫͓̳̦̜̆͋͊̎̒͋̌̑͂̒̐͑̎̒̽̆̄̃̌̾̈́̈́̓͊͆́̀͌̔̆͜͜͝ę̷̶̵̴̵̴̢̢̡̢̢͔̹̬̗̻̹̟̙͓͎̼͖̠͉͎̰̰̮̭̯̆̾̔͗̉̔̋͌͐̋̽̓͊̐͘̕͝ ̵̶̵̵̶̶̨̢̪̗͍̱̖̼̝̣̻̗͙̤̺̬̮̖̣͈̖̺̯͖̙͖̩͖̅́̓̌̿̃͊̇͑̆͋̅̆͆̐̓̂̿͘̚̚̕͜͝L̷̸̸̶̴̶̷̢̨̢̧̰̗̜͇̣͓̖̤̖͔̫̙̝̹͎̥̘̱̟̈́͌̅̽̽͐͐̑͒̾̀͋̅̈́̍̌̇͊͑̒͂̂͂͐̃̅̀͘͜͝͠͝ę̵̵̵̵̸̴̨͈͉̗͈̺̪̪̹̼̪̻̞̣̥͍̰̻̘͍͒̉̃̓͑̓̊̀̂̏̄͆̎̏͗̉́͆ä̷̶̴̶̸̴̧̡͓̗̳̦̠̯̰̳̼̱͔͎̰̤̯͎̼́͗͂̆̈́͋͆̒͗̆̃̾̈́͆̿̑̐̆́̕̕̚͝͝ͅk̵̶̷̶̴̵̴̨̡̡̢̡̩̲͎̜͇͍̩̻̯̱̳͉̫͓͈̩͔̤̝̝̬̖̦̟̘̫͖̂̆̑̓̿͋̐̔͑͂̎͗͗͛̾̋̎̿̅̕̚͝͝_ ** ̸͈̩͉̃̔̓̈́̚i̸̜̇̈́͠͝s̷̻̝̟̳͙̍̌ ̸̨̝̹̊̄̈́̌̾t̸̰̯̣͛̽͊o̴̪̱͓̐͗̇̈́r̴̟͋̇̔̔͆̕͠ṉ̶͍̩̤̲̲̔̀͑̿̍ ̸̮̳̰̯̰̾͋̆͠ͅa̸̢̟̟̖̝̰͗̚p̷̲͙͍̭̳̩̎̊̌a̵̧̛̱͚̠̭̝̒͑̋͜ŕ̴͚̹̩͕͊t̷̻̓͝.̵̺̌̈̒̆̈́̚

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


ZK-Class Reality Failure Scenario in Progress

Location: T̵͚͚̏ḩ̴̖̑̽ḙ̶̢͌ ̶͖̿Ļ̸̫͒͝è̵̘̄ä̶͎́̆k̶̡̬͂̾

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


* * *

On the other side, as John shoots a hole through Terra Jade’s chest and David runs his Terra counterpart through with a sword, the black rift flickers and slowly begins to fold in on itself. Ascii notices just as she finishes cleaning up the last Terra drones, and then the other two notice it. The blackness folds up and silence falls. They stand there in silence for five minutes straight, waiting, until John says the truth that they all already know by now.

“Jade’s dead.” he whispers.

David and Ascii hold him as he cries.

* * *

**2100**

Shade is 17. It’s been four years since the closing of T̵͚͚̏ḩ̴̖̑̽ḙ̶̢͌ ̶͖̿Ļ̸̫͒͝è̵̘̄ä̶͎́̆k̶̡̬͂̾, K-R-Terra’s UK Invasion, and Operation Nemesis. He and Forrester have snuck their way past the defense systems and have come across an old elevator. Getting into it and heading down into the Earth, they find themselves in an observation room. The room that’s being observed is shrouded in darkness.

“We shouldn’t be here.” Shade says.

“Come on, don’t you want to know?” Forrester asks.

“I…” Shade hesitates for a moment, but says “Yes.” anyway.

Forrester flicks some switches, revealing the full detail of the room that they’re overlooking.

The massive room, an expanse of cubes, contains 4000 cube-shaped prison cells, although according to the display only 562 of them are occupied. Occupied by what, Shade can’t see.

“What are these?” Shade asks.

Forrester searches the display and looks at Shade with a grim look.

“Your failed brothers and sisters.” Forrester says.

“My failed brothers and sisters?” Shade asks.

“Yeah.” Forrester says. “They’re just sitting down here. Dormant. Waiting.”

“Waiting?” Shade asks. “Waiting for what?”

“Someone to set them free.” Forrester says. “I could just flip this switch…”

Shade breaks the uncomfortable silence. “No.” he says. “Something tells me that that’s a bad idea. A terribly bad idea.”

“He’s right, you know.” a voice says, and they turn to see Bateman, the house management program, silently exiting the elevator into the room. “It is a bad idea.”

“Bateman.” Forrester says, not without an edge of aggression.

“You boys aren’t supposed to be down here.” Bateman says. “But, I don’t blame you for wanting to know the answers. Your father won’t be happy.”

Shade shrinks a little when Bateman says that. “Shade, come with me.” Bateman says. “Forrester, stay here.” Forrester sighs, and Shade waves to him before following Bateman into the elevator. As the doors start to close, Bateman speaks.

“You don’t have to listen to them, you know.” Forrester says.

“No,” Shade says, “But I’ve chosen to.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do you keep your aborted children under the floorboards?  
> Terra Sollux casually raiding the fridge.  
> There go all the xenomorphs. Also, free water!  
> I stole 'caramelized electricity' from Pochapal.  
> Jane asked Gamzee about what dying felt like because she knew she was dying :(  
> Motherfucker is a little used word in Universe "Four" Gamzee's vocabulary, but he usually means business when he says it, and him shouting it isn't too good.  
> Jade is gone, sad. Ascii's not actually going to take her name anymore.  
> Moreno is a complicated character. On one hand, he's an asshole, but on the other hand, UMF basically robbed him of his reason to live by unwriting the SCPs, so it makes sense he'd be pissed. At this point he's basically suicidal. No wonder Anderson switched to "Just put the gun down" in the way you talk someone down from suicide.


	11. Eleven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Great Silence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Very short chapter, more like an info-blurb.

Fun fact about the multiverse: there are apparently only 120 million, 50 thousand, and 100 (120,050,100) universes. At least according to the Administrator.

THE RIDDLE OF THE GREAT SILENCE

There’s something deeply existentially terrifying about the idea of the Great Silence. Are we the only ones broadcasting into the void? Where’s everyone else? Why is space so silent? Is everyone else already gone? It’s strange, because we were lucky enough to meet Beforus, and they were only within a few light years from them and that’s how we find each other so quickly. But we’ve both been sending signals into the void trying to find someone, _anyone_ else out there. Instead what we’re left with is two species holding hands in the dark and trying to find any light, if that makes sense. It’s almost paradoxical. If life could spring up on two worlds so close together, it should be everywhere, right? And yet… nothing. It’s all unusually silent. It’s rather frightening, to be honest. The Great Silence takes on a different meaning when one is referring to the Multiverse. Apparently, the Administrator makes periodic forays beyond Yggdrasil in search of something else. Yes, there are many worlds floating in the void that are bursting with life, but he has been left with one big question; if he has managed to escape his own world and link numerous other universes together, then why has nobody else done it? He has exhaustively explored a good five hundred thousand or so worlds from the outside in search of any signs of any other world trees and yet… nothing. And he’s still only scratched less than 0.5% of it. If so many people could leave their own universes in our world tree, then why hasn’t anyone else done it? Is it because he covered up the core worlds and stopped people leaving and thus prevented further expansion? Why has nobody else tried connecting worlds? Yes, unlike the vastness of space, we know that these universes are inhabited, but what we don’t know is why nobody has been able to talk to each other. I suppose we may never know, and the riddle of the Great Silence could most likely go unanswered forever.

[NEW FILE DETECTED]

[FILE CREATOR: THE ADMINISTRATOR]

TYRANNY AND VALKYRIE

I suppose I should talk about Tyranny and Valkyrie. I didn't get Harley to list them in our current foes list, as we defeated them a long time ago. They're important, however, because Valkyrie was our 'first' foe before everything else started to realize it could bust up other universes. An army of insectoids with multiverse-traversing technology and an affinity for slaughtering inhabited worlds by the hundreds. As for Tyranny, well. Everyone from my beta Zodiac Counsel remembers them. They were from long ago. Before XX-Beta-12 happened, before Universe "Four" joined, before even UMF was created, and it was just the Administrator and his group of super-powered allies. Back when instead of UMF, there was MDC (Multiverse Defense Conglomerate) and only half a million soldiers. Tyranny and Valkyrie, our first threats, have a long intertwined history. It all started

[ERROR]

[DATA FILE CORRUPTED]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It really does beg the question as to why, out of 120 _million_ universes, only one of them created a person who could jump between them? That is bullshit, in their opinion. It doesn't make sense. It's eerie.  
> Not to mention that bit at the end. What's with that? We want answers, damn you! If it's so early, just tell us!


	12. Twelve

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The End.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's more music in this one.

**Now**

When T̵͚͚̏ḩ̴̖̑̽ḙ̶̢͌ ̶͖̿Ļ̸̫͒͝è̵̘̄ä̶͎́̆k̶̡̬͂̾ closed down, John received a small gold coin, which he’s currently got in his pocket as Jade has her bodiless funeral. **1-UP!!!** , the coin says on it. He assumes that Jade would have gotten it if she had survived, because T̵͚͚̏ḩ̴̖̑̽ḙ̶̢͌ ̶͖̿Ļ̸̫͒͝è̵̘̄ä̶͎́̆k̶̡̬͂̾ seemed to gift it like a reward for closing the first of its eight rifts. The whole family shows up for Jade’s funeral, and even a few of their friends. Ascii, David, Roxy, and Gamzee, to name a few. Anderson’s there more for her fallen squad members than Jade. As for Moreno, John doesn’t know what happened to him.

* * *

**2 Weeks Before**

“Well, I made it just fine.” Cold-Eye says when he walks back into his flat and sits down next to Flame on the couch. “How about that.”

“How about that.” Flame says. “But of course… not all of us are going to make it through Golf-213 unscathed.”

“Not all of us?” Cold-Eye asks. “Flame… we’re all going to get broken in our own ways.”

“What makes you think that?” Flame asks.

“I _know_ that, Flame.” Cold-Eye says, tapping the side of his head. “I can see it.”

‘Shit.” Flame says. “Well then, could you get two beers?”

“Sure.” Cold-Eye says, walking into the kitchen.

“Thanks.” Flame says. “If there’s no tomorrow, not truly, then I figure why not break open one more before the end.”

“Cheers.” Cold-Eye says.

UMF forces mill around the small farm once belonging to Sollux Captor. Gamzee’s uncertain whether he’s getting revived or not, but frankly he doesn’t care because he’s too busy monitoring Jane. She’s unconscious now, machines sucking the Terra Infection out of her. Apparently, it could take as long as a decade for the after-effects to fully leave her. But she’s strong, and she’ll manage. Moreno’s nearby, sitting on a log or something, looking sorry for himself. Anderson’s next to him, pondering the future.

“They didn’t even want to kill me.” Moreno says. “They knew I wanted to be dead, so they let me live.” he pauses. “Shit, I never had the guts to blow my own brains out, so I suppose I’ll just go and clean out that weapons cache.”

“Alright.” Anderson says. “Just don’t lose your cool, alright?”

“I… I won’t.” Moreno says before walking off towards the barn.

“Think he’ll be alright?” Anderson wonders aloud.

“Well, he’s been lasting a year or so since the technical end of SCP.” Gamzee says. “Although I’m fairly certain he’ll be fine. And I bet you he’ll still be an asshole.”

“I don’t know if he knows how to be good anymore.” Anderson suddenly says after a pause.

“What do you mean?” Gamzee asks.

“Well, after all the SCPs were unwritten, he…” Anderson pauses for a moment, “He took it hard. He had suddenly had years, no, three _decades_ worth of training and skills that he felt were now wasted. Thirty years gone, he felt. It shattered him. So, he doubled down on all those negative aspects of his.”

“Oh, is that why?” Gamzee asks.

“Guess so.” Anderson shrugs. “Still thinking about something he said once… that when every member of Epsilon-11 dies, the legacy of the old SCP Foundation dies with them.”

“Hmm.” Gamzee says, considering the statement. “Damn.” he finally says. “I think he might actually be right with that one.”

“I’m gonna go check on him, see how he’s doing.” Anderson says. She stands and heads for the barn, while Gamzee goes back to focusing on Jane. She’ll be alright now, he knows, so there’s no need to be as focused on her. Even still, he keeps looking.

Two seconds after that, the barn explodes as the sea mine within is set off.

The whole building is reduced to rubble, wood getting thrown about, but there are surprisingly no injuries to be had from any of the UMF soldiers. Anderson, however, immediately loses her cool.

“DERRICK!” she shouts, running amidst the ruins. All of the guns, ammo, and explosives within have melted or been torn apart in the explosion. “DERRICK!” she calls again, and Gamzee runs over to her. “Derrick!” she calls a third time, much less hopeful.

“He’s gone, Janice, he’s gone.” Gamzee says.

“He… he can’t have… the mine…” Anderson mutters, and then she finds his helmet. “He gave up.” she mutters, right before she collapses to her knees and sobs.

**Epsilon-11 Status Report, Terra Incident**

Lowe 287 - Deceased

Watkins 364 - Deceased

Andrews 113 - Deceased

Moore 117 - Deceased

Goodwin 212 - Deceased

Simmons 451 - Deceased

Chambers 694 - Deceased

Robertson 502 - Deceased

Edwards 908 - Deceased

Gardener 745 - Deceased

Anderson 827 - Retired

Moreno 668 - Deceased

Epsilon-11 Status - Decommissioned

* * *

**2101**

Shade is 18. It’s been five years since the closing of T̵͚͚̏ḩ̴̖̑̽ḙ̶̢͌ ̶͖̿Ļ̸̫͒͝è̵̘̄ä̶͎́̆k̶̡̬͂̾, K-R-Terra’s UK Invasion, and Operation Nemesis. He and Forrester are sitting around.

“So, what’s your plan, exactly?” Shade asks.

“Hopefully I can get close to him and knock some sense into him.” Forrester says.

“So what, we just go and rough up some Universe “Five” timelines.” Shade says.

“Well not rough up, just…” Forrester thinks of the word. “Mess with. Delay events. Change the story, but not in an overtly negative way.”

“Right.” Shade says. “I get your point.”

“You still got those headaches?” Forrester asks.

“Yeah, I’ll be alright.” Shade says. “Not a problem.”

“Shatter’s been looking at you weirdly too.” Forrester says. “I would keep an eye on him.”

“I’ll be fine.” Shade says. “Let’s just go.”

The two of them step through a portal and vanish to Universe “Five” to fulfill the plotlines of Act I and Act II. Shatter watches them go, calmly staring. He stands and walks until he reaches his room and goes inside to find Shadow, Shackle, Sharpen, and Shard lounging around.

“Can we get this started?” Shard asks, slightly impatiently.

“Well, I’m almost done rewriting Shade’s subconscious’ code.” Shatter says. “He’ll prove an effective diversion. I’ve also copied over his code into mine.”

“But not into ours, huh?” Shadow asks.

“Shut up Shadow.” Shatter says. “You all need to have your powers specifically for this.”

“Is that why you did what you do best to us?” Shackle asks. “Shattered us?”

“Yes.” Shatter says. “But that is unimportant. We’ve got a plan. And that plan involves triggering Shade’s subconscious and messing up a couple of timelines. He’s already out there, so I’ll trigger him soon.”

“And then what?” Shard asks.

“Then, once he’s caused enough damage, hopefully we’ll have dropped the item in Two, and then we can head for the Core of Five.” Shatter says. “And we’ll need him again after that.”

“What, so you can trigger your lovely expansion?” Sharpen asks.

“If you want to call it that, yes.” Shatter says. “And I wouldn’t mock me if I were you, Sharpen.” Sharpen shrinks a little at Shatter’s harsh tone of voice. “Spread through every world in Five,” Shatter continues, “Burn away the Cancer. That sounds like a plan to me. Also, it just occurred to me that I’ve never really been established before as a villain, which will make this plot feel weird and jerky.” he shrugs. “But that is irrelevant.”

“Right, when are we leaving?” Shadow asks, only mildly impatiently.

“As soon as we do one last thing.” Shatter says. “We have to free the Broken below.”

There’s a long pause before Sharpen asks “The what?”

* * *

[ [S] Shatter: Exit ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bf01riuiJWA)

[0:00]

Former Epsilon-11 Corporal Janice Anderson hears the alarms and rallies her new team to ready their weapons to deal with the onslaught of warped programs coming up from below, trying to get to the surface to wreak havoc on the world. Bullets fly, and yet it feels like there’s no sound at all. Just silence, and the extradiegetic music.

[0:24]

Shatter and his four other siblings find themselves confronted by Smith, along with Johnson, Brown, Thompson, Jones, and Jackson. Smith issues a warning, but no sound can be heard to the extradiegetic viewer. They fight, and blood is spilled. Although they defeat the agents, Shatter tells the rest of them to stay there and wait as he goes first.

[0:54]

Shatter finds K alone in his hallway full of doors. He sees Shatter, and knows that he’s doomed. He dies quickly from Shatter’s neck snap. Shatter takes the man’s keychain and unlocks the way to Universe “Five”. Bateman and Amy are down here too, and they come after him. However, he uses his powers, twists fate itself, and they drop dead to the ground. He smiles, dropping the keychain to the ground and going back to his brothers and sister.

[1:26]

Anderson never stops fighting, never stops firing her gun. Her friends and fellow soldiers fall dead around her, but she never lets up, emptying Reality Shaper bullets into every Broken program that comes after her. But even still, after what feels like hours of fighting (but is more like minutes), she finally is attacked up close by several of the Broken, and she is killed.

So ends Epsilon-11, and thus, the legacy of the old SCP Foundation.

[1:50]

The Broken continue forwards, unimpeded, too damaged to be accurately described with words, too lovecraftian in nature. John Harley is the first one to arrive and see the total massacre of the house’s occupants. Even the two specialized defense programs, Koralon and Nolarok, are dead. The only way the Broken could even get anywhere close to being able to overcome these defenses is if they had help. Which can only mean one thing.

[2:18]

Libra and Sophia Joseph Carter show up at that moment, and begin shredding the programs with their magic. As the house is cleared, John makes his way downstairs and confirms a total jettison of programs on the dead Abel and Cain’s console. But something else catches his eye. A small red button blaring a warning.

{MAXIMUM SECURITY BREACHED}

[2:50]

When John goes downstairs, he finds Aspect dancing alone. They stare at each other for a moment before John nods. He knows he can’t stop Aspect from leaving, and they are a neutral party at worst, so why not let them go? Technically speaking, there was never any reason to continue to keep them in prison. Aspect vanishes in a flash of light, and John returns upstairs to get the rundown of the situation.

[3:21]

The Administrator himself isn’t there, but he’s sent both Sigma and Umbra to make a decision on what to do about the scenario, and they seem to have elected to bury the four Children of God who didn’t escape before Libra and Sophia reached them, Shadow, Shackle, Sharpen, and Shard. They’re going to bury them in four unsuspecting timelines deep beneath Earth C’s surface and protected by millions of enchantments. Shade and Forrester are unknown, while Shatter is confirmed to have gone rogue. Where he’s going, no one knows. Whatever his plan is, they’re not going to catch him anytime soon, seeing as how he’s jumping between timelines all throughout Universe “Five”, never inflicting an ounce of damage, staying there for about ten minutes, and then jumping to the next.

[3:37]

John goes to his office in this house, doing his best to ignore the blood on the walls of the hall outside, and sits down at his desk, booting up a view of a timeline. He watches the events and then writes them out, inscribing the plotline of Act I. It’s there where he realizes that something got to Shade. Soon, Jane arrives as he finishes writing, still recovering from her bloodburn from five years ago. He leaves at that point to check up on how the cleanup around the house is doing, leaving David in his stead, allowing the man to do what he’s always wanted to do; inscribe the story of a timeline. A relevant timeline.

For hours, he writes the conclusion to XX-Beta-12’s conflict in Act II and the continued chase of Shade, courtesy of the Ouroboros Knights, in Act III. He soon comes to the story of Act IV, getting an exclusive view at everything that has happened and getting to write it all out. He cries when he has to inscribe Jade’s death, but he soldiers forwards.

Then, after that, he pulls up another document and begins writing the Intermission out, beginning with explaining something that has most likely become obvious by now, but he does it for relevance regardless. He feels odd, like he’s not alone, but keeps writing.

_When the thing that was once John attempted to take the_ Daedalus _to Earth C in the Meat Universe, it was cut off by the end of the Act, which caused it to lose control. The_ Daedalus _crashed back in the world of ACT IV: Controllers, thus fulfilling a stable time lo_

David is cut off from writing as the figure behind him fires a bullet right through his back, puncturing his left lung, and causing him to fall out of his chair.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's something I find strangely sad about that Epsilon-11 Status Report. They're all gone save one, who's left.  
> Poor Moreno. He gave up. Even if he didn't, he wouldn't have actually been able to grow beyond his negative abilities, because he would've been so used to being a bad person for years that he wouldn't actually know how to grow.  
> Shatter, fuck you. Really, seriously, fuck you. Act I is all your fault, as is the ending of the Solomon Project. Plus, you're a dick to your brothers and sister.  
> If the ending was actually a film scene, there would be no sound. Just the music.  
> At least Aspect is out, and trying to be better people (Still refer to themselves as we, they prefer it)  
> David, no!  
> Also, this is the only story so far that hasn't opened or closed with the list of stories in Yggdrasil. Ominous...

**Author's Note:**

> Xenomorphs! That's where those aliens from Act I went.  
> Hey look, John/Vriska in 2020.  
> Also, Sergeant Moreno, that one guy from Solomon Project!  
> Shade's here, and he's... 13. He grows up. And then becomes hyper-relevant.


End file.
